THE   PRINCIPLES  OF 
RHETORIC 


WITH 


CONSTRUCTIVE    AND    CRITICAL 
WORK   IN   COMPOSITION 


BY 


ELIZABETH    H.   SPALDING,  A.B. 

PRATT   INSTITUTE,   BROOKLYN 

AUTHOR   OF   "THE  PROBLEM    OF   ELEMENTARY   COMPOSITION" 
AND    "  THE   LANGUAGE   SPELLER  " 


BOSTON 
D.   C.   HEATH   &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS 

1905 


COPYRIGHT,  1905, 
BY  D.  C.    HEATH  &  Co. 


SRLF 
URL 

PE 


1405 


AUTHOR'S    NOTE 

"  THE  art  of  instruction  for  the  secondary  school,"  it 
has  been  said,  "  may  be  summed  up  in  one  sentence : 
Inspire  enthusiastic  activity."  It  is  not  enough,  how- 
ever, to  inspire  such  activity;  provision  for  its  proper 
exercise  must  be  made. 

The  material  that  forms  the  basis  of  this  book  was 
collected  in  my  own  classes  during  a  period  of  years, 
for  the  purpose  of  arousing  and  satisfying  the  pupil's 
interest  and  activity  with  reference  to  rhetoric  and  com- 
position. Later,  at  the  request  of  teachers,  the  mate- 
rial was  put  into  the  form  of  a  book.  That  the  book 
might  meet  general  conditions  in  the  classroom,  it  was 
submitted  before  its  publication  to  able  instructors  and 
critics,  teachers  of  English  in  a  number  of  widely  sepa- 
rated centres.  Their  suggestions  were  valuable,  and 
are  incorporated  in  the  book  as  published. 

Because  many  text-books  already  in  use  contain 
admirable  presentations  of  rhetorical  principles,  with 
exercises  on  some  of  them  and  with  lists  of  compo- 
sition subjects,1  it  is  by  no  means  unnecessary  for  the 
author  of  a  new  rhetoric  to  state  what  differentiates 
his  work  from  other  books  on  the  same  subject.  Per- 
haps the  most  distinctive  features  of  this  rhetoric  are 
the  following :  — 


iv  AUTHOR'S   NOTE 

1.  It  is  planned  to  meet  a  gradual  increase  of  skill 
on  the  part  of  the  pupil.     As  soon  as  he  has  gained 
knowledge   from  the  working  out  of  one  composition 
problem,  that  knowledge  is  utilized  in  the  solving  of 
another.     His  study  of  Diction,  for  instance,  is  made 
to  bear  directly  upon  all  subsequent  exercises  in  compo- 
sition. 

2.  It  provides  for  the  establishment  of  good  habits. 
For   example,   not   only    is   the    subject   of   paragraph 
sequence  taught,  but,  throughout  the  book,  the  writing 
of  a  sequence  of  paragraphs  is  repeatedly  called  for, 
and  topics  are  given  which  in  themselves  form  a  se- 
quence.    In  this  way  the  thought  of  orderliness  is  kept 
in  the  pupil's  mind,  until  he  has  acquired,  with  refer- 
ence to  paragraph  sequence,  not  merely  a  definition,  but 
a  habit. 

3.  It  recognizes  the  fact  that  knowledge  which  one 
cannot  apply  at  will  is  not  a  part  of  one's  actual  equip- 
ment.    Therefore,  hardly  a  rhetorical  fact  is  presented 
which  is  not  utilized  over  and  over  again. 

4.  It    groups    composition    subjects    carefully,    with 
reference  to  their  especial  adaptability  to  the  particular 
problems  with  which  they  are  associated.      Moreover, 
it  almost  invariably  offers  a  somewhat  wide  choice  of 
subjects.     Tasks    are    set,  but   the   sense    of    freedom 
that  is  felt  when  a  writer  may  take  from  a  number 
of   subjects  what  pleases   him  best,  relieves  their  irk- 
someness. 

5.  It  criticises  from  the  standpoint  of  a  fellow- worker 
intent  upon  results,  not  upon  fault-finding. 

6.  It  encourages  self-reliance,  since  every  writer  must, 


AUTHOR'S   NOTE  v 

sooner  or  later,  depend  largely  upon  his  own  judgment 
and  taste.  No  exercises  are  given  to  pupils  until  inde- 
pendent work  may  rightfully  be  demanded,  until  the 
principles  on  which  the  exercises  are  based  have  been 
explained,  illustrated  by  means  of  quotations  from  good 
authors,  and  again  illustrated  through  similar  exercises 
worked  out  by  other  pupils  in  their  own  classrooms.  A 
good  deal  of  time  and  thought  were  expended  upon  the 
collection  of  the  student  material  used  under  exercises. 
Simple,  direct  work  often  was  preferred  to  what  might 
be  stronger  and  more  dramatic,  yet  less  safe  to  insert 
in  a  text-book.  I  believe  this  student  material  to  be 
especially  serviceable,  aside  from  the  fact  that  it  gives 
opportunities  for  criticism  and  reconstruction.  The 
very  admiration  that  a  pupil  feels  for  Wordsworth  or 
Browning,  for  Burke  or  Macaulay,  makes  him  realize 
his  own  comparative  impotence,  with  a  consequent 
sense  of  discouragement;  but  let  him  hear  what  one 
of  his  peers  —  a  boy  like  himself  —  has  written,  in  an 
honest  and  more  or  less  skilful  way,  and  he  is  eager  to 
try  something  of  the  same  sort  himself.  The  master- 
pieces are  still  before  him  as  models. 

7.  The  rhetoric  offers  opportunities  for  the  applica- 
tion of  rhetorical  theory  to  complete  pieces  of  literature 
—  "  Silas  Marner  "  and  "  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal." 
It  is  often  desirable  during  a  recitation  to  have  an 
entire  class  find  an  illustration  of  the  truth  of  some 
statement.  The  story  and  the  poem  mentioned  are 
valuable  for  such  investigation.  The  rhetoric  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  however,  and  the  use  of  the  literature 
referred  to  is  altogether  optional. 


vi  AUTHOR'S   NOTE 

Although  many  of  the  answers  contained  in  the  five 
chapters  called  "  Answers  to  Pupils'  Inquiries "  were 
suggested  by  questions  in  my  own  classes,  other  matter 
has  been  inserted  to  make  the  chapters  comprehensive 
enough  to  meet  general  needs. 

The  following  pages  represent  not  only  my  own  work 
and  thought,  and  my  interest  in  the  secondary  school, 
but  also  the  careful  consideration  and  helpful  contri- 
bution of  many  teachers  and  pupils.  To  all  who  have 
assisted  me  I  am  very  grateful. 

THE  PRATT  INSTITUTE, 
BROOKLYN. 


CONTENTS 

HAPTER  PAGE 

I.     Four  Essentials  of  Literary  Work:    Unity,  Climax, 

Proportion,  Sequence          .....         5 
II.     The  Connecting  of  Paragraphs,  Chapters,  and  Can- 
tos;  Coherence.         .         .         .         .         .         .21 

III.  Answers  to  Pupils1  Inquiries,  I :  Punctuation     .         .       33 

IV.  Forms  of  Sentences:  The  Loose,  the  Balanced,  and 

the  Periodic  Sentence 43 

V.     Answers  to  Pupils'  Inquiries,  II :  Punctuation  (Con- 
tinued) ;  Capitalization       .....       49 
VI.     Description :    Point  of  View,  Scale,  Selection   and 

Arrangement  of  Details      .         .         .         .         -55 
VII.     Answers  to  Pupils'  Inquiries,  III:  The  Proper  Use 

of  Some  Words  and  Clauses       ....       67 

VIII.     Diction     ...  74 

IX.     Figures  of  Speech     .......       86 

X.     Two  Kinds  of  Descriptive  Writing   ....       95 

XI.     Stories  told  as  Metaphors:  The  Allegory,  the  Fable, 

the  Parable 100 

XII.     Answers  to  Pupils'  Inquiries,  IV  :  The  Future  Tense, 

the  Historic  Present  Tense,  Sequence  of  Tenses     107 

XIII.  The  Qualities  of  Style  :  Clearness,  Rapidity,  Empha- 

sis, Smoothness,  Force,  Life        .         .         .  115 

XIV.  Narration .138 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV.     The  Composition:    Introduction,  Conclusion,   Sum- 
maries, Transitions,  Outline        .         .         .         -155 

XVI.     Answers  to  Pupils'  Inquiries,  V  :  Letters  and  Notes  .  165 

XVII.     The  Study  of  Poems I?6 

XVIII.     Poetry:  Kinds  of  Poetry;  Versification    .         .          .  190 
XIX.     Arrangements  of  Words  Sometimes  classed  as  Figures 
of  Speech  :   Antithesis,  Climax  and  Anticlimax, 

Interrogation,  Exclamation          .         .  •                 .  209 

XX.     Exposition         .....                                    .  214 

XXI.     Argumentation          .......  234 

APPENDIX  —  English  and  Library  Work                            .         .  261 

INDEX •.  269 


THE    PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

WITH 

CONSTRUCTIVE   AND    CRITICAL 
WORK    IN    COMPOSITION 


INTRODUCTION 

Language  is  the. keenest  expression  of  life. 

BENJAMIN  IDE  WHEELER. 

WHY  is  rhetoric  valuable  as  a  study  ?  It  tells  what 
is  known  about  the  art  of  expression  in  language.  It 
shows  how  one  may  learn  to  speak  convincingly,  and 
write  with  clearness  and  vigor.  "  All  men  stand  in 
need  of  expression,"  says  Emerson.  "In  love,  in  art, 
in  politics,  in  labor,  in  games,  we  study  to  utter  our 
secret.  The  man  is  only  half  himself,  the  other  half  is 
his  expression  [of  himself]." 

A  knowledge  of  rhetoric  increases  the  power  to 
appreciate  literary  work  and,  as  a  consequence,  adds  to 
the  enjoyment  of  literature;  for  essays,  novels,  plays, 
poems,  live  from  age  to  age  not  only  because  they  hold 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  deep  interest  to  mankind,  but 
also  because  they  reveal  those  thoughts  and  feelings  in 
a  masterly  way. 

The  study  of  rhetoric  is,  therefore,  of  practical  value 
and  has  a  direct  bearing  upon  life  and  growth. 

The  Century  Dictionary  thus  defines  rhetoric :  "  The  Rhetoric 

,     ,.  ....  defined 

art  ot  discourse ;    the  art  ot   using  language  so  as  to 
influence  others." 


CHAPTER   I 

FOUR   ESSENTIALS    OF  LITERARY  WORK:    UNITY, 
CLIMAX,   PROPORTION,   SEQUENCE 

A  Brief  Preliminary  Consideration  of  the  Entire  Composition 
with  Reference  to  the  Four  Essentials 

POEMS,    stories,    and   other   pieces   of   literature   are 
written  because  their  authors  have  some  thought  which 
they  wish  to  share.     Usually,  the  meaning,  purpose,  or  The  theme 
message  of  a  composition  —  its  theme  —  may  be  stated  position0™ 
in  a  sentence,  or  even  more  briefly.     A  writer  keeps 
his  theme  in  mind  throughout  the  preparation  of  his 
work ;  it  holds  him  to  his  purpose. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  In  its  preface.  Hawthorne  reveals  the  theme  of  "The  House 
of  the   Seven   Gables."     It   is :    The  wrong-doing  of  one  genera- 
tion lives  into  another,  becomes  uncontrollable,  and  works  nothing 
but  mischief. 

II.  The  theme  of  Thackeray's  "Vanity  Fair"  is  disclosed  in  his 
question :  Which  of  us  has  his  desire,  or  having  it  is  satisfied  ? 

III.  "  Silas  Marner,"  George  Eliot  says,  "  sets  —  or  is  intended 
to  set  —  in  a  strong  light  the  remedial  influences  of  pure  natural 
human  relations."     The  theme  of  the  book,  however,  appears  to  be : 
Man  reaps  what  he  sows. 

IV.  Tennyson  anticipates  and  answers  criticism  regarding  one- 
ness of  theme  in  "  The  Princess  "  by  calling  it  a  medley.    Moreover, 

5 


6  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

his  prologue  explains  that  the  six  collegians  who  tell  the  story  "  will 
say  whatever  comes  "  ;  that  is,  they  will  not  consider  unity.  These 
very  precautions,  however,  indicate  that  Tennyson  will  preserve  the 
unity  of  his  poem  as  a  whole. 

A  well-constructed  literary  work  has  but  one  theme, 
and,  as  a  consequence,  has  Unity  (oneness). 

The  point  of  highest  interest  in  a  composition — espe- 
cially in  a  story  with  a  plot  —  is  called  the  Climax. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  In  "The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables,"  the   climax   is   the 
Judge's  death  (Chapter  xviii). 

II.  In  Dickens's  "A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  Sidney  Carton's  sacri- 
fice (Book  iii,  Chapter  xiii)  is  the  climax. 

III.  In  "  Silas  Marner,"  Eppie's  choice  of  a  father  (Chapter  xix) 
arouses  the  keenest  interest.     In  the  story  of  the  trial  by  lot  —  a 
short  story  within  the  longer  one  last  mentioned  —  the  climax  is, 
according  to  the  author's  own  statement  (Chapter  xvi)  :  The  draw- 
ing of  lots  and  its  false  testimony. 

There  are  compositions  without  climax. 

Proportion  The  writer  respects  his  climax  and  subordinates  the 
rest  of  his  material  to  it;  that  is,  he  has  a  sense  of 
Proportion.  In  novels  and  romances  there  are  germs 
for  separate  and  complete  short  stories,  but  such  minor 
themes  are  not  overemphasized  and  elaborated.  Their 
relative  value  is  recognized ;  it  is  at  least  secondary 
to  that  of  the  climax. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  STORIES  WITHIN  STORIES 

I.    Wamba's  sacrifice  (Chapters  xxv,  xxvi)  and  Gurth's  night  of 
adventures  (Chapters  x,  xi)  in  "  Ivanhoe." 


THE   WHOLE   COMPOSITION  7 

II.  The  legends  of  the  Pyncheon  family  (Chapter  i)  and  the 
flight  of  the  brother  and  sister  (Chapters  xvi,  xvii,  xx)  in  "The 
House  of  the  Seven  Gables." 

III.  The  hunt  (Chapter  iv),  the  New  Year's  journey  (Chapter  xii), 
the  finding  of  the  gold  (Chapter  xviii),  and  the  following  of  the 
light  (Chapter  xii),  in  "  Silas  Marner." 

When  a  work  seems  to  grow  naturally,  one  part  lead-  sequence 
ing  up  to  the  next,  —  preparing  for  it,  heightening  it,  or 
contrasting  with  it,  —  the  work  is  said  to  have  Sequence. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Daniel  Webster  opens  his  first  Bunker  Hill  oration  by  speaking 
of:   (i)  the  deep  impression  that  the  day,  the  place, and  the  purpose 
of  their  assembling  make  upon  his  hearers  and  himself;    (2)  the 
propriety  of   the    emotion   that  agitates    them;    (3)  the   personal 
emotion  and  interest  that  even  reading  about  the  discovery  of  the 
American  continent  arouses ;    (4)  the  deeper  interest   felt   in   the 
settlement  of  their  country  by  colonists  from  England;   (5)  their 
supreme  interest  in  the  American  Revolution.     The  sequence  of 
Webster's  thought  is  evident. 

II.  John  Alden  would  receive  less  sympathy  when  he  goes  to  woo 
Priscilla  for  the  Captain  of  Plymouth,  if  Longfellow  had  not  first 
described  the  friendship  existing  between  the  two  men  and  had  not 
declared  that  every  sentence  of  John  Alden's  letters  to  England 
"  began  or  closed  with  the  name  of  Priscilla."     As  it  is,  the  orderly 
development  of  the  poem  enables  one  to  appreciate  Alden's  love  for 
Priscilla  contending  with  his  friendship  for  the  Captain. 

III.  Recalling  "  Silas  Marner."  one  realizes  that   the  sequence 
of  its  events  was  well  planned.      For  example,  in  order  to  show 
the  comparative  worthlessness  of  his  gold,  it  was  necessary  that 
Marner  should  lose  it  before  the  child  came  to  him,  so  that  the  in- 
terest and  affection  formerly  given  to  his  heaps  of  coin  might  be 
transferred  to  her.     It  was  equally  necessary  that  he  should  again 
possess  the  money  which  had  once  satisfied  him,  before  being  asked 
to  part  with  his  foster  child. 


PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 


Unity  in 
the  para- 
graph 


Statement 
of  topic 


Unity,  Climax,  and  Sequence  with  Reference  to 
the  Paragraph 

MUCH  that  is  true  of  the  composition  as  a  whole  is 
true  of  its  divisions,  the  paragraph  and  the  sentence. 
A  composition  has  unity  when  it  is  concerned  with  only 
one  main  theme ;  a  paragraph  has  unity  when  all  its 
sentences  are  about  one  topic. 

Its  topic  is  sometimes  stated  at  the  beginning  of  the 
paragraph,  sometimes  at  the  end ;  sometimes  it  is  not 
stated  at  all,  yet  the  reader  infers  what  it  must  be,  for 
every  sentence  helps  to  reveal  it. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  It  has  a  most  picturesque  effect,  also,  to  meet  a  train  of  mule- 
teers in  some  mountain  pass.  First  you  hear  the  bells  of  the  leading 
mules  breaking  with  their  simple  melody  the  stillness  of  the  airy 
height ;  or,  perhaps,  the  voice  of  the  muleteer  admonishing  some 
tardy  or  wandering  animal,  or  chanting,  at  the  full  stretch  of  his 
lungs,  some  traditionary  ballad.  At  length  you  see  the  mules  slowly 
winding  along  the  cragged  defile,  sometimes  descending  precipitous 
cliffs,  so  as  to  present  themselves  in  full  relief  against  the  sky,  some- 
times toiling  up  the  deep  arid  chasms  below  you.  As  they  approach, 
you  descry  their  gay  decorations  of  worsted  tufts,  tassels,  and  saddle- 
bags ;  while,  as  they  pass  by,  the  ever  ready  trabucho,  slung  behind 
their  packs  and  saddles,  gives  a  hint  of  the  insecurity  of  the  road. 

WASHINGTON  IRVING:  " The  Alhambra." 


II.  "  Such  are  thy  crimes,"  resumed  the  Bishop,  with  calm  deter- 
mination ;  "  now  hear  the  terms  which,  as  a  merciful  Prince  and  a 
Christian  Prelate,  setting  aside  all  personal  offence,  forgiving  each 
peculiar  injury,  I  condescend  to  offer.  Fling  down  thy  leading-staff, 
renounce  thy  command,  unbind  thy  prisoners,  restore  thy  spoil,  dis- 


THE   PARAGRAPH  9 

tribute  what  else  thou  hast  of  goods  to  relieve  these  whom  thou  hast 
made  orphans  and  widows,  array  thyself  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  take 
a  palmer's  staff  in  thy  hand,  and  go  barefooted  on  pilgrimage  to 
Rome,  and  we  will  ourselves  be  intercessors  for  thee  with  the  Imperial 
Chamber  at  Ratisbon  for  thy  life,  with  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope 
for  thy  miserable  soul."  SlR  WALTER  ScoTT .  „  Quentin  Durward.» 

III.  How  many  steps  have  I  taken  in  vain  !     Thus  it  happened 
to  Israel,  for  their  sin  ;  they  were  sent  back  again  by  way  of  the 
Red  Sea  ;  and  I  am  made  to  tread  those  steps  with  sorrow  which  I 
might  have  trod  with  delight,  had  it  not  been  for  this  sinful  sleep. 
How  far  might  I  have  been  on  my  way  by  this  time!     I  am  made  to 
tread  those  steps  thrice  over  which  I  needed  not  to  have  trod  but 
once ;  yea,  now  also  I  am  like  to  be  benighted,  for  the  day  is  almost 
spent.     Oh,  that  I  had  not  slept  ! 

JOHN  BUNYAN  :  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 

IV.  Not  long  after,  as  I  rode  near  him,  I  heard  him  shouting  to 
me.     He  was  pointing  towards  a  detached  rocky  hill  that  stood  in 
the  middle  of  the  valley  before  us,  and  from  behind  it  a  long  file  of 
elk  came  out  at  full  speed  and  entered  an  opening  in  the  mountain. 
They  had  scarcely  disappeared  when  whoops  and  exclamations  came 
from  fifty  voices  around  me.     The  young  men  leaped  from   their 
horses,  flung  down  their  heavy  buffalo  robes,  and  ran  at  full  speed 
towards  the  foot  of  the  nearest  mountain.     Reynal  also  broke  away 
at  a  gallop  in  the  same  direction.    "  Come  on  !  come  on  !"  he  called 
to  us.     "  Do  you  see  that  band  of  big-horn  up  yonder  ?     If  there's 
one  of  them,  there's  a  hundred  ! " 

FRANCIS  PARKMAN:  "  Passage  of  the  Mountain." 

[The  topic  of  the- preceding  paragraph  is  not  stated.     One  infers 
it  to  be  :  The  coming  of  the  elk.] 

The  beginning  of  every  paragraph  should  be  indented,  mdenta- 
An  indentation  of  an  inch  is  not  too  much  on  foolscap  g1^  Par 
paper. 


10  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


EXERCISES  i 

I.  Have  the  following  paragraphs  unity  ?     Explain  how  you 
know  that  your  answer  is  correct. 

II.  In  i,  what  sentence  is  very  nearly  a  statement  of  the 
paragraph  topic  ?  % 

III.  What  is  the  climax  of  paragraph  3  ? 

i.   THE  KITCHEN  REPRESENTED  NEATNESS  AND  INDUSTRY 

It  was  a  queer  kitchen  in  one  of  the  old  Dutch  farmhouses  one 
sometimes  sees  near  West  Point.  As  I  stepped  into  it,  I  seemed 
to  be  carried  back  to  Holland.  An  effort  had  been  made  to  keep  it 
in  its  original  state,  and  the  low  dark  wainscoting,  shining  tiled  floor, 
quaint  diamond-paned  windows,  and  the  queer  rows  of  windmill- 
painted  delft  ware  on  the  shelves,  looked  just  as  they  did  when  the 
first  Dutch  settlers  brought  them  over  and  put  them  up  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago.  Even  the  stove  that  had  supplanted  the  wide 
fireplace  looked  almost  in  keeping  with  the  rest,  so  well  had  it  been 
scrubbed  and  polished  by  the  bustling  Dutch  housewife.  Through 
the  low  deep  windows  the  sunlight  poured  in,  scattered  in  a  hundred 
bright  flashes  through  the  room  from  the  shining  tiles  and  the  well- 
ordered  rows  of  glistening  pots  and  pans.  Never  was  I  more 
impressed  by  neatness,  patient  thrift,  and  industry. 

[One  need  not  be  so  poor  in  words  as  to  need  the  repetition  of 
looked.  The  article  the  might  be  omitted  at  least  before  queer,  line  5, 
and  possibly  before  low,  line  1 1,  and  shining  and  well-ordered,  lines 
12  and  13,  for  useless  words  are  harmful.  Did,  line  6,  is  incorrect. 
If  completed,  the  expression  would  read,  "did  looked."2  Had  may 
be  substituted  for  did.'] 

1  All  composition  given  for  discussion  under  exercises  —  unless  it  is  en- 
closed in  quotation-marks  —  has  been  taken  from  the  work  of  pupils  in  the 
classroom.  The  questions  and  suggestions  that  follow  this  student  mate- 
rial afford  opportunities  for  careful  criticism  and  for  a  reconstruction  of 
expressions  that  should  be  improved. 

'2  See  page  71. 


THE   PARAGRAPH  II 

2.  WHAT  I  SAW  FROM  AMY  ROBSART'S  TOWER 

Opposite  me,  on  the  other  side  of  the  castle,  was  the  entrance 
through  which  Elizabeth  and  her  courtiers  had  entered ;  below  me, 
the  gateway  through  which  the  soldiers  of  King  Charles  had  poured 
in  disorderly  retreat,  and  slammed  it  in  the  face  of  Cromwell's  men. 
Looking  out  from  the  castle,  in  the  distance  I  could  see  the  monas- 
tery, the  stones  of  which  were  used  by  Cromwell's  men  for  sharpening 
their  swords ;  and  on  the  other  side  fields  and  orchards  stretched, 
until  they  faded  into  a  blue,  misty  haze  in  the  distance,  broken  only  by 
the  long  white  road  that  wound  like  a  ribbon  through  the  green  fields. 

["  Slamming  "  should  be  substituted  for  and  slammed  in  line  4, 
because  the  two  actions  mentioned  are  not  of  the  same  importance. 
The  change  suggested  would  make  which  action  of  lesser  weight  ? 
The  modifier,  in  the  distance,  line  5,  should  come  after  see,  its  princi- 
pal, for  the  sake  of  clearness.  Misty  before  haze  and  in  the  distance 
after  it,  line  8,  are  not  needed,  and  are  therefore  harmful.  The  repe- 
tition of  fields,  line  10,  might  be  happily  avoided.  Meadows  might 
be  used  for  fields.  Substitute  for  broken  a  word  that  will  better 
express  the  meaning.] 

3.   WOULD  THE  ROPE  BREAK? 

.Such  a  slender,  threadlike  rope,  and  bearing  such  a  heavy  bag  on 
the  end!  The  thread  strained  hard,  and  almost  parted.  Then  a 
sudden  breeze  made  it  sway  dangerously  as  it  lengthened  downward. 
Once  it  caught  on  the  hammock.  Should  I  take  the  bag  off?  I 
waited  with  outstretched  hand,  to  guide  or  to  guard.  On  it  came, 
reeled  off  from  somewhere,  mysteriously,  steadily.  Then  it  touched 
safe  hard  floor.  Snap  went  the  rope  and  away  on  the  wind.  The 
silken  bag  put  forth  eight  tiny  black  feet  at  once,  and  scampered  off. 

IV.  Write  a  paragraph  on  one  of  the  following  subjects  or 
topics  ;  let  every  sentence  be  about  the  topic  chosen  :  — 

1.  The  scene  would  have  made  an  artist  wish  for  his  brush. 

2.  How  to  build  a  wood  fire  in  a  fireplace. 

3.  The  river  was  gay  with  boats. 

4.  A  strange  animal  of  the  past. 


12 


PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 


5.  What  I  saw,  heard,  felt,  smelled  or  tasted  :  — 

a.  in  the  deep  woods. 

b.  on  the  cliff  by  the  seashore. 

c.  from  my  hammock. 

d.  as  I  worked  with  the  mowers. 

e.  as  I  crdssed  the  bridge. 

f.  while  I  watched  the  stevedores  on  the  dock. 

g.  at  the  entrance  to  the  cathedral. 

[A  paragraph  is  required  about  only  one  of  the  lettered  subjects.] 

6.  The  winter  home  of  a  common  bird. 

7.  He  crept  upon  his  victim. 

8.  What  I  see  from  my  window. 

9.  Will  he  be  able  to  loosen  the  rope? 

10.  What  I  found  in  a  bird's  nest. 

11.  The  ice  bent,  cracked,  —  ! 

12.  Two  ways  were  open,  which  would  he  choose? 

There  are  many  ways  of  so  developing  a  paragraph 
that  its  chief  idea  shall  stand  out.  One  may,  for  in- 
stance, first  state  that  idea  in  a  topic  sentence  (see  I 
and  II,  pages  8  and  9)  and  then  explain,  illustrate,  or 
prove  what  one  has  said.  One  may  lead  up  to  a  sum- 
marizing sentence  or  one  that  gives  point  to  the  para- 
graph as  a  whole.  Sometimes,  the  summary  sentence 
is  a  topic  sentence  also  (see  IV,  page  9).  Whatever  the 
method  of  development  or  arrangement  may  be,  it  should 
emphasize  the  main  idea  of  the  paragraph. 

•  Paragraphs  are  most  frequently  developed  from  an 
introductory  or  topic  sentence  or  lead  up  to  a  conclud- 
ing topic,  or  summary,  sentence  in  the  following  ways:  — 

By  the  use  of :  (i)  repetition  (to  define)  and  explana- 
tion; (2)  particulars  and  details;  (3)  examples  and  proofs; 
(4)  comparison  and  contrast ;  (5)  cause  and  effect. 


THE    PARAGRAPH  13 

* 

EXERCISES 

I.  Choose  a  second  topic  from  the  list  under  IV  and  write 
a  paragraph  about  it.     Decide  upon  a  method  of  development 
for  your   paragraph.     Paragraphs  suggested    by  i,  3,  8,  may 
have  topic  sentences  and  develop  by  giving  the  details  of  the 
scenes.     Paragraphs  suggested  by  7,  9,   n,  should  have  cli- 
maxes, and  the  material  in  each  should  be  so  arranged  as  to 
give  prominence  to  the  climax  and  thus  emphasize  it.     Para- 
graphs suggested  by  2,  4,  6,  10,  may  have  topic  sentences  and 
develop  by  means  of  explanations  or  extensions  of  the  topic 
statements.     A  paragraph  upon  12   might  open  with  a  topic 
sentence   calling   attention   to   the   fact   that   two  ways   were 
available,  develop  by  means  of  a  contrast  of  those  two  ways, 
and  conclude  by  stating  which  way  was  chosen. 

[Note  that  neither  2  nor  3,  page  1 1,  has  a  topic  sentence  regularly 
developed,  but  that  each  groups  its  facts  in  an  orderly  way :  2,  with 
reference  to  their  location ;  3,  with  reference  to  the  relative  time  of 
their  occurrence.  ] 

II.  Suggest  the  topic  for  a  paragraph  to  come  after  8,  after 
10,  after  12,  page  12.     Consider  sequence. 

III.  Write  the  topic  for  a  paragraph  to  succeed  5  in  the  list 
of  topics,  page  12;  write  the  succeeding  paragraph  itself;  be 
sure  that  the  paragraph  observes  unity  and  has  a  definite  method 
of  development.     Write  a  third  topic  to  succeed  the  second. 

IV.  Turn  to  Chapter  i  of  "  Silas  Marner."     The  topic  of 
the  first  paragraph  is,  The  common  distrust  of  linen-weavers  in 
that  far-off  time  when  superstition   clung  easily  around  every 
person  or  thing  at  all  unwonted ;  the  topic  of  the  second  para- 
graph is,  One  of  those  linen-weavers.     What  is  the  topic  of  the 
third  paragraph?      What  is  the  climax  in  the  last  paragraph 
of  Chapter  xii?     How  is  that  paragraph  developed?     What  is 
the  climax  in  the  eleventh  paragraph  before  the  end  of  Chap- 
ter xix?     What  paragraph  forms  the  climax  of  Chapter  xix? 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


The  para- 
graph as  a 
unit  and  as 
a  part  of  a 
larger 
whole 


A  paragraph  considered  by  itself  is  a  unit  and  more 
or  less  sharply  distinct ;  a  paragraph  in  the  composi- 
tion is  but  part  of  a  whole  and  blends,  as  it  were,  with 
what  precedes  and  with  what  follows,  unless  it  is  used 
to  introduce  a  contrast  or  something  of  that  nature. 

The  writer  who  has  had  much  practice  and  has  ac- 
quired skill  often  does  without  thought  or  effort  what 
beginners  take  pains  to  do ;  it  has  become  second 
nature  for  him  to  observe  the  principles  upon  which 
worthy  expression  in  language  depends.  Good  literary 
work  meets  the  requirements  of  unity,  climax,  propor- 
tion, and  sequence  in  each  paragraph,  as  well  as  in  the 
entire  composition.  A  knowledge  of  rhetoric  should 
enable  one  to  enjoy  not  only  the  thought  in  literature, 
but  also  the  way  in  which  that  thought  is  expressed. 

Unity  and  Sentence  Limitation 
unityinthe       A  sentence  has  unity  when  it  has  but  one  subject  of 

sentence 

thought.     The  grammatical  subject  of  a  sentence,  how- 
l-he gram-     ever,  and  its  rhetorical  subject  are  not  always  identical. 

matical  and  J  J 

thernetori-    The  subject  about  which  both  writer  and  reader  think 

cal  subject 

is  the  rhetorical  subject  of  the  sentence. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  In  the  sentence  "We  gathered  roses  wet  with 
dew,"  we  is  the  subject  of  the  predicate  gathered,  but  the  subject  of 
which  the  reader  thinks  —  the  rhetorical  subject  —  is,  What  we 
gathered. 

II.  In  the  sentenqe  "  They  returned  to  Mervyn's  tower,  the  apart- 
ment, or  rather  the  prison,  of  the  unfortunate  Countess  of  Leicester," 
they  is  the  grammatical  subject,  while  the  rhetorical  subject  is  Mer- 
vytfs  tower. 


A  knowl- 
edge of 
rhetoric 
should  add 
to  enjoy- 
ment of  lit- 
erature 


THE    SENTENCE  15 

EXERCISES 

I.  Note  the  subject  of  thought  —  the  rhetorical  subject  — 
in  each  of  the  following  quoted  sentences  :  — 

1 .  "I  can  scarcely  see  of  what  shape  the  sword  is,  for  now  it 
shines  like  a  straight  beam  of  light,  now,  as  he  twists  it,  there  is 
a  flash  in  a  half-circle,  like  a  cimeter,  and  again  the  point  alone 
gleams  out  and  flashes,  as  if  it  would  find  its  own  way  to  the  heart 
of  a  foe,  with  no  hand  to  guide  it." 

Grammatical  subject,  //  subject  about  which  one  thinks,  — 
rhetorical  subject,  —  The  sword. 

2.  '-Hennas  could  see  the  bishop  in  his  great  chair,  surrounded 
by  the  presbyters,  the  lofty  desks  on  either  side  for  the  readers  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  communion  table  and  the  table  of  offerings  in 
the  middle  of  the  church." 

Grammatical    subject,    Hennas ;   rhetorical    subject,    What 
Hernias  could  see. 

II.  Discuss  the  following   work.     Does  each  sentence  ob- 
serve the  law  of  unity  ?     Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

1.  Before  me  rose  a  thorny  hedge,  which  it  was  impossible  to 
climb  over  or  crawl  through,  and  I  was  thankful  I  had  come  upon  it 
in  daylight. 

2.  As  I  looked  from  my  window,  I  could  see,  toward  the  end  of 
the  walk,  a  most  beautiful  hedge  all  pink  with  blossoms. 

3.  Skirting  the  road  on  the  opposite  side  was  a  hedge  of  haw- 
thorn, very  compact  and  bristling  with  thorns. 

4.  The  hedge  into  which  I  had  chased  the  rabbit  was  a  dense 
tangle  of  coarse  vines  bristling  with  short  thorns. 

5.  The  explorer  told  us  how  he  felt  when,  through  the  darkness, 
he  saw  two  bright  piercing  flashes  from  the  jungle  —  the  gleaming 
of  a  tiger's  eyes. 

6.  The  snow  came  driving  down  in  long  slant  lines,  wounding 
my  eyes  with  its  blinding  darts,  and  almost  shutting  out  my  vision 
of  old  Kate's  snowy  shape,  as  she  jogged  valiantly  onward  to  home 
and  fodder. 


16  PRINCIPLES  OF   RHETORIC 

III.  Write  one  sentence  about,  The  workroom  ;  one  about, 
A  hail-storm  ;  one  about,  A  sheltering  tree  ;  one  about,  The  end 
of  the  game.  In  each  case  be  careful  to  write  of  only  the  sub- 
ject given  ;  every  sentence  will  then  have  unity. 

The  fact  that  a  sentence  violates  unity  if  it  has  more 
than  one  subject  of  thought,  often  enables  a  writer  to 
decide  when  a  new  sentence  is  required.  When  the 
subject  of  thought  changes,  a  new  sentence  becomes 
necessary. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  a  paragraph  about,  The  face  I  saw  at  the  window. 

II.  Explain  :  — 

1.  How   one  may  be  sure  that  the  paragraph  written  in 
response  to  I  has  unity. 

2.  How  one  may  be  sure  that  each  sentence  in  the  para- 
graph has  unity. 

III.  Study  the  fourth  and  fifth  paragraphs  in  Chapter  iii  of 
"Silas  Marner."     Name  the  subject  of  thought  in  each  sen- 
tence. 

It  would  be  correct,  though  perhaps  not  desirable,  to 
make  two  sentences  of  the  following  quoted  sentence. 
The  first  sentence  might  end  with  dream,  and  the  second 
begin  with  The  shoemaker  asks. 

"  He  tells  the  shoemaker  that  he  has  had  a  beautiful  dream,  and 
the  shoemaker  asks  him  what  it  was,  saying  that  it  is  the  true  busi- 
ness of  a  poet  to  have  dreams  and  to  tell  them,  so  that  everybody 
may  know  them." 

[The  subject  of  thought  in  the  preceding  sentence  is,  The  conver- 
sation of  the  poet  and  the  shoemaker.  The  subjects  of  thought  of 
the  same  sentence  divided  are:  i.  What  the  poet  tells;  2.  What 
the  shoemaker  says.] 


THE    SENTENCE  17 

The  following  quotation  might  be  written  as  two  sen- 
tences, the  first  ending  with  flowers,  the  second  begin- 
ning with  tJie  king. 

"  There  are  shouts  and  cheers,  and  men  with  waving  banners  and 
women  who  scatter  flowers ;  the  king  smiles  upon  his  people  and 
thanks  them  for  their  greeting." 

[The  subject  of  thought  in  the  sentence  quoted  is,  The  greeting 
given  and  received.  The  subjects  of  thought  of  the  divided  sen- 
tence are:  i.  What  the  people  do;  2.  What  the  king  does.] 


EXERCISES 

I.  Write   i  as  four  sentences ;  divide  the  single  sentence  2 
into  three  sentences. 

1.  "He  lay  quite  still;  he  was  fled  away  far  beyond  earshot  of 
these  blows  and  shoutings ;  he  was  sunk  beneath  seas  of  silence ; 
and  his  name,  which  would  once  have  caught  his  notice  above  the 
howling  of  a  storm,  had  become  an  empty  sound.'' 

2.  "The  sloping  galleries  were  crowded  with  all  that  was  noble, 
great,  wealthy,  and  beautiful ;  and  the  contrast  of  the  various  dresses 
of  these  dignified  spectators  rendered  the  yiew  as  gay  as  it  was  rich, 
while  the  interior  and  lower  space,  filled  with  the  substantial  bur- 
gesses and  yeomen  of  merry  England,  in  their  more  plain  attire, 
formed  a  dark  fringe,  or  border,  around  this  circle  of  brilliant  em- 
broidery, relieving,  and  at  the  same  time  setting  off,  its  splendor." 

II.  What  is  the  subject  of  thought  —  the  rhetorical  subject 
—  of  i  under  I? 

III.  What  is  the  rhetorical  subject  of  each  of  the  four  sen- 
tences into  which  i  may  be  divided? 

IV.  What  is  the  rhetorical  subject  of  2  under  I  ? 

V.  What  is  the  rhetorical  subject  of  each  of  the  three  sen- 
tences into  which  2  may  be  divided? 


i8 


PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 


the  writer's 
purpose 


where  a  It  will   be  perceived   that,  while  a  single  sentence 

sentence 

endsde-  should  have  but  one  subject  of  thought,  several  succes- 
whatupon  S'IVQ  sentences  may  have  about  the  same  subject  of 
thought.  The  author  himself  decides  where  his  sen- 
tence shall  end.  He  may,  for  example,  write  several 
short  sentences,  though  each  has  the  same,  or  nearly 
the  same,  subject  of  thought ;  or  he  may  combine  such 
expressions  into  one  compound  or  complex  sentence 
without  violating  unity,  since  all  are  about  the  same 
rhetorical  subject. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  a  paragraph  on  the  following  topic  :  Unity  in  the 
composition,  the  paragraph,  and  the  sentence. 

II.  Does  your  paragraph  written  in  response  to  I  observe 
unity?     Does  each  sentence  of  the  paragraph  observe  unity? 
Give  a  reason  for  each  answer. 

III.  Study  the  paragraph  written  in  response  to  I ;  if  you 
are  able  to  make  a  different  combination  of  its  words  into  sen- 
tences and  yet  observe  unity,  rewrite  the  paragraph  and  make 
such  a  combination.     Of  the  two  correctly  written  paragraphs 
you  will  prefer  that  which  the  more  nearly  accomplishes  your 
purpose,  that  which  the  more  nearly  conveys  your  thought  and 
feeling. 

Do  not  try  to  write  as  this  one  or  that  one  'writes. 
Be  honest.  Express  yourself.  If  you  are  now  poor  in 
thought  and  feeling,  become  richer  in  both.  Utilize 
what  you  read  and  hear  and  see,  but  in  meeting  the 
requirements  of  exercises  do  your  own  independent 
thinking  and  feeling. 


THE    SENTENCE  19 

Sequence  of  Sentences 

As  one  paragraph  may  suggest  another,  so  one  sen-  one  sen- 
tence leads 
tence  may  lead  up  to  another;  that  is,  there  is  sequence  up  to 

of  sentences  as  there  is  sequence  of  paragraphs. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

In  the  following  illustrations,  each  succeeding  sentence  is  sug- 
gested or  anticipated  by  some  important  part  of  the  preceding. 

I.  Suddenly  ...  it  was  immediately  absorbed  in  watching  the 
bright  living  thing  running    toward   it,  yet   never  arriving.     That 
bright  living  thing  must  be  caught ;  and  in  an  instant  the  child  had 
slipped  on  all  fours,  and  held  out  one  little  hand  to  catch  the  gleam. 
But  the  gleam  would  not  be  caught  in  that  way,  and  now  the  head 
was  held  up  to  see  where  the  cunning  gleam  came  from.     It  came 
from  a  very  bright  place.  GEORGE  ELIOT  :  ••  Silas  Marner." 

II.  They  left  the  high-road  by  a  well-remembered  lane,  and  soon 
approached  a  mansion  of  dull-red  brick,  with  a  little  weathercock- 
surmounted  cupola  on  the  roof.  ...     It  was  a  large  house,  but  one 
of  broken  fortunes.  CHARLES  DICKENS  :  "  A  Christmas  Carol." 

III.  Where  there  was  a  good  path  he  seldom  failed  to  choose  it. 
But  now  he  had  only  a  choice  among  paths,  every  one  of  which 
seemed  likely  to  lead  to  destruction.     From  one  faction  he  could 
hope  for  no  cordial  support.     The  cordial  support  of  the  other  fac- 
tion he  could  retain  only  by  becoming  the  most  factious  man  in  his 
kingdom.  THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY  :  "  History  of  England." 

IV.  Being  one  day  in  the  church  of  St.  Gudule,  .  .  .  Esmond 
saw  kneeling  at  a  side  altar  an  officer  .  .  .  very  deeply'  engaged 
in   devotion.      Something   familiar  in   the    figure   and  posture   of 
the  kneeling  man  struck  Captain  Esmond,  even  before  he  saw  the 
officer's  face.     As  he  rose  up,  putting  away  into  his  pocket  a  little 
black  breviary,  such  as  priests  use,  Esmond  beheld  a  countenance  so 
like  that  of  his  friend  and  tutor  of  early  days,  Father  Holt,  that  he 
broke  out  into  an  exclamation  of  astonishment,  and  advanced  a  step 


20  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

toward  the  gentleman,  who  was  making  his  way  out  of  the  church. 
The  German  officer,  too,  looked  surprised  when  he  saw  Esmond,  and 
his  face,  from  being  pale,  grew  suddenly  red.  By  this  mark  of  recog- 
nition the  Englishman  knew  that  he  could  not  be  mistaken,  and. 
though  the  other  did  not  stop,  but,  on  the  contrary,  rather  hastily 
walked  away  toward  the  door,  Esmond  pursued  him  and  faced  him 
once  more  as  the  officer,  helping  himself  to  holy  water,  turned  me- 
chanically toward  the  altar  to  bow  to  it  ere  he  quitted  the  sacred 
edifice.  WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE  THACKERAY  :  "  The  History 

of  Henry  Esmond,  Esq." 

EXERCISES 

I.  Select  the  sentence  that  is  harmful  to  sequence  in  the 
following  paragraph  :  — 

B had  a  thunder  shower  with  considerable  rain,  and  some 

sharp  lightning  and  heavy  thunder.  In  the  suburbs  more  or  less 
damage  was  done  by  the  electricity.  This  helped  to  keep  the  mer- 
cury down  to  a  fairly  comfortable  point  all  night. 

II.  Write   a   sequence   of    three    paragraphs ;    use    these 
topics  :  — 

1.  The  lonely  tower. 

2.  I  decide  to  enter  it. 

3.  Why  I  do  not  stay. 

[The  tower  described  may  be  an  observatory,  a  storage  place  for 
gunpowder,  the  remains  of  a  windmill,  or  part  of  a  ruined  building.] 

III.  Read  the  paragraphs  written  in  response  to  II.     If  the 
sentences  do  not  have  sequence,  so  reconstruct  the  work  that 
an  important  part  of  each  sentence  shall  suggest  the  beginning 
for  the  succeeding — whenever  such  suggestion  seems  desirable. 

IV.  Find   instances   of  skilful   sentence    sequence    in    the 
opening  paragraph  of  "  Silas  Marner." 

V.  Define  each  of  the  following  terms  as  used  in  rhetoric : 
unity,  climax,  proportion,  sequence. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE  CONNECTING  OF  PARAGRAPHS,  CHAPTERS,  AND 
CANTOS:  COHERENCE 


SKILFUL  writers  fit  the  parts  of  their  work  together  Binding 

,  ,  the  parts 

ingeniously.     Paragraphs  are  connected  with  nicety  and  a  work 
in  a  variety  of  ways. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

[Expressions  giving  sequence  or  connection  to  the  paragraphs  are 
underscored.] 

I.  The  shrub  here  often  attains  the  height  of  fifteen  or  twenty   Sequence 

feet,  and  forms  an  almost  impenetrable  coppice,  burdening  the  air   and  Para' 
.  graph  con- 

with  its  fragrance.  nection 

In  the  utmost  recesses  of  this  coppice,  not  far  from  the  eastern 
or  more  remote  end  of  the  island,  Legrand  had  built  himself  a  small 
hut,  which  Tie  occupied  when  I  first,  by  mere  accident,  made  his 
acquaintance.  EDGAR  ALLAN  POE:  "  The  Gold  Bug." 

[The  repetition  of  the  word  coppice,  with  this  to  designate  the 
coppice  as  that  described  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  makes  a 
strong  paragraph  connection.] 

II.  Household  rumors   touch    him    not.      Some   faint   murmur, 
indicative  of  life  going  on  within  the  house,  soothes  him,  while  he 
knows  not  distinctly  what  it  is.     He  is  not  to  know  anything,  not 
to  think  of  anything.     Servants  gliding  up  or  down  the  distant  stair- 
case, treading  as  upon  velvet,  gently  keep  his  ear  awake  so  long  as 
he  troubles  not  himself  further  than  with  some  feeble  guess  at  their 


22  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

errands.  Exacter  knowledge  would  be  a  burden  to  him ;  he  can 
just  endure  the  pressure  of  conjecture.  He  opens  his  eye  faintly  at 
the  dull  stroke  of  the  muffled  knocker,  and  closes  it  again  without 
asking  "Who  was  it?"  He  is  flattered  by  a  general  notion  that 
inquiries  are  making  after  him,  but  he  cares  not  to  know  the  name 
of  the  inquirer.  In  the  general  stillness  and  awful  hush  of  the 
house,  he  lies  in  state  and  feels  his  sovereignty. 

To  be  sick  is  to  enjoy  monarchial  prerogatives.  Compare  the 
silent  tread,  and  quiet  ministry,  almost  by  the  eye  only,  with  which 
he  is  served  —  with  the  careless  demeanor,  the  unceremonious  goings 
in  and  out  (slapping  of  doors,  or  leaving  them  open)  of  the  very 
same  attendants,  when  he  is  getting  a  little  better  —  and  you  will 
confess,  that  from  the  bed  of  sickness  (throne  let  me  rather  call  it) 
to  the  elbow-chair  of  convalescence,  is  a  fall  from  dignity,  amounting 
to  a  deposition. 

How  convalescence  shrinks  a  man  back  to  his  pristine  stature! 
Where  is  now  the  space,  which  he  occupied  so  lately,  in  his  own,  in 
the  family's  eye?  CHARLES  LAMB:  ••  The  Convalescent." 

III.  By  the  time  I  had  made  my  arrangements  and  fed  Modestine, 
the  day  was  already  beginning  to  decline.  I  buckled  myself  to  the 
knees  into  my  sack  and  made  a  hearty  meal ;  and  as  soon  as  the 
sun  went  down,  I  pulled  my  cap  over  my  eyes  and  fell  asleep. 

Night  is  a  dead  monotonous  period  under  a  roof;  but  in  the  open 
world  it  passes  lightly,  with  its  stars  and  dews  and  perfumes,  and 
the  hours  are  marked  by  changes  in  the  face  of  Nature.  What 
seems  a  kind  of  temporal  death  t6  people  choked  between  walls  and 
curtains,  is  only  a  light  and  living  slumber  to  the  man  who  sleeps 
afield.  All  night  long  he  can  hear  Nature  breathing  deeply  and 
freely  ;  even  as  she  takes  her  rest  she  turns  and  smiles ;  and  there 
is  one  stirring  hour  unknown  to  those  who  dwell  in  houses,  when 
a  wakeful  influence  goes  abroad  over  the  sleeping  hemisphere,  and 
all  the  outdoor  world  are  on  their  feet.  It  is  then  that  the  cock  first 
crows,  not  this  tirhe  to  announce  the  dawn,  but  like  a  cheerful  watch- 
man speeding  the  course  of  night.  Cattle  awake  on  the  meadows ; 
sheep  break  their  fast  on  dewy  hillsides,  and  change  to  a  new  lair 
among  the  ferns ;  and  houseless  men,  who  have  lain  down  with 


CONNECTION  OF   PARTS  23 

the   fowls,   open   their  dim   eyes   and    behold   the   beauty   of   the 
night. 

At  what  audible  summons,  at  what  gentle  touch  of  Nature,  are  all 
these  sleepers  thus  recalled  in  the  same  hour  to  life  ? 

ROBERT  Louis  STEVENSON  :  "  A  Night  among  the  Pines." 

[The  first  paragraph  ends  with  a  reference  to  the  coming  on  of 
night ;  the  second  paragraph  begins  by  describing  the  passing 
of  night  in  the  open  world.  There  is,  then,  a  thought  connection 
—  the  thought  of  night  —  between  the  two  paragraphs.  The  second 
paragraph  ends  with  an  allusion  to  the  one  hour  of  wakeful  influence 
before  the  dawn,  and  the  third  opens  with  an  inquiry  into  the  cause 
of  that  wakeful  influence  which  recalls  all  the  sleepers  mentioned  in 
the  second  paragraph,  at  the  hour  referred  to  in  that  paragraph,  to 
life  as  therein  described.  The  thought  connection  between  the  sec- 
ond and  third  paragraphs  is  that  of  the  wakeful  influence  which  brings 
all  the  outdoor  world  to  their  feet.  Only  the  words  that  most  notice- 
ably indicate  the  paragraph  connection  are  underlined. 

Sequence  of  thought  in  I,  II,  III,  is  as  evident  as  are  the  devices 
for  connecting  the  paragraphs. 

Note  that  the  first  sentence  in  each  paragraph  of  II  and  the  first 
sentence  in  the  second  paragraph  of  III  give  the  paragraph  topic. 
What  is  the  method  of  development  in  the  second  paragraph  of  III  ?] 

EXERCISES 

I.    A  canto  in  poetry  corresponds  to  a  chapter   in  prose.   Cantoand 
Scott's  "  Marmion,"  Canto  i,  ends  thus  :  -  ejection 

Then  loudly  rung  the  trumpet  call, 
Thunder'd  the  cannon  from  the  wall, 

And  shook  the  Scottish  shore ; 
Around  the  castle  eddied  slow, 
Volumes  of  smoke  as  white  as  snow, 

And  hid  its  turrets  hoar ; 
Till  they  roll'd  forth  upon  the  air, 
And  met  the  river  breezes  there, 
Which  gave  again  the  prospect  fair. 


24  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

And  the  second  canto,  making  a  connection  between  the  two, 
begins  thus  :  — 

The  breeze  which  swept  away  the  smoke 

'Round  Norham  Castle  roll'd 
When  all  the  loud  artillery  spoke, 
With  lightning-flash  and  thunder-stroke, 

As  Marmion  left  the  hold, 
It  curled  not  Tweed  alone,  that  breeze, 
For  far  upon  Northumbrian  seas, 

It  freshly  blew  and  strong. 

What  is  there  in  Canto  ii  that  suggests  Canto  i  ? 

II.  Scott  opens  Chapter  xxvi  of  "  Quentin  Durward  "  thus  :  — 

The  preceding  chapter  was  designed  as  a  retrospect  which  might 
enable  the  reader  fully  to  understand  the  terms  upon  which  the 
king  of  France  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  stood  together,  when 
the  former  .  .  .  had  adopted  the  extraordinary  .  .  .  resolution  of 
committing  his  person  to  the  faith  of  a  fierce  and  exasperated  enemy. 

The  second  paragraph  of  the  same  chapter  begins  :  — 

On  the  following  morning  after  the  king's  arrival,  there  was  a 
general  muster  of  the  troops  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy. 

In  what  ways  has  Scott  given  sequence  to  his  work? 

III.  In   "Silas    Marner,"   Chapter  i,  such  a  linen-weaver 
makes  a  link  between  the  first  and  second  paragraphs.     And\?, 
the  connective  word    for   the   second  and   third    paragraphs, 
but  the   old  echoes  makes  another   link.      Raveloe  binds  the 
third  and  fourth  paragraphs  together ;  while  this  (vague  fear) 
connects  the  fourth  and  fifth.     What  words  serve  to  connect 
Chapter  vii  with  Chapter  vi  ? 

IV.  Find  an  illustration  of  interesting  paragraph  connection  ; 
use  any  English  prose  classic. 


as  connec- 


CONNECTION   OF   PARTS  25 

If  one  paragraph  or  chapter  is  very  closely  connected  when  con- 
junctions 
in  thought   with    another,    no  conjunction    may  be  re-  are  required 

quired  to   unite   them.     If   the    thought   connection  is  tives 
slight,  a  conjunction  is  likely  to  prove  useful. 


ILLUSTRATION 

The  dogs  were  barking,  cattle-bells  jangling  in  the  wooded  pas- 
tures, and  as  the  youth  passed  farmhouses,  lights  in  the  kitchen 
windows  showed  that  the  women  were  astir  about  breakfast.  .  .  . 

And  the  east  bloomed  broader.  The  dome  of  gold  grew  brighter, 
the  faint  clouds  here  and  there  flamed  with  a  flush  of  red. 

HAMLIN  GARLAND:  "Scenes  from  Western  Life." 

Two  successive  paragraphs  may  be  used  to  contrast  contrast  of 

paragraphs 

one  thing  with  another ;  or  a  paragraph  may  lead  to  an 
unexpected  statement  in  its  successor :  that  is,  work 
may  contain  contrasts,  although  it  has  sequence. 

ILLUSTRATION 

The  honey-bee's  great  ambition  is  to  be  rich,  to  lay  up  great 
stores,  to  possess  the  sweet  of  every  flower  that  blooms.  She  is 
more  than  provident.  Enough  will  not  satisfy  her;  she  must 
have  all  she  can  get  by  hook  or  by  crook.  She  comes  from  the 
oldest  country,  Asia,  and  thrives  best  in  the  most  fertile  and  long- 
settled  lands. 

Yet  the  fact  remains  that  the  honey-bee  is  essentially  a  wild 
creature,  and  never  has  been  and  cannot  be  thoroughly  domesti- 
cated. Its  proper  home  is  the  woods,  and  thither  every  new  swarm 
counts  on  going ;  and  thither  many  do  go  in  spite  of  the  care  and 
watchfulness  of  the  bee  keeper.  If  the  woods  in  any  given  locality 
are  deficient  in  trees  with  suitable  cavities,  the  bees  resort  to  all  sorts 

of  makeshifts. 

JOHN  BURROUGHS:  "  An  Idyl  of  the  Honey-Bee." 


26  PRINCIPLES  OF   RHETORIC 

EXERCISE 

Write  a  sequence  of  three  short  paragraphs  about  one  of  the 
following  groups  of  topics.  Show,  by  means  of  care  for  unity, 
sequence,  and  paragraph  connection,  that  you  are  gaining  skill. 

I.    My  Attempt  to  Light  the  Fire  in  the  Woods. 

1 .  The  place  selected. 

2.  My  preparations. 

3.  The  interruption. 

II.    The  Bravest  Man  I  Know. 

1.  Who  he  is. 

2.  Where  I  met  him. 

3.  How  he  won  my  admiration  for  his  bravery. 

III.  The  Icy  Storm. 

1.  The  damp  snow  turned  to  rain. 

2.  The  night  grew  colder. 

3.  Next  day,  the  sun  was  hardly  so  bright  as  the  world 

glittering  below  it. 

IV.  How  I  Arranged  my  Room. 

1 .  The  room  itself. 

2.  What  I  like  best  in  it. 

3.  How  I  contrived  to  utilize  its  advantages. 
V.   What  We  Brought  Home  on  the  Christmas  Tree. 

1.  We  cut  the  tree  on  a  hillside  near  the  lake. 

2.  The  call  for  help. 

3.  Using  the  tree  as  a  sled,  we  draw  our  rescued,  but 

exhausted,  friend  to  his  home. 

In  what  ways  did  you  connect  your  paragraphs?  How  did 
you  develop  each  paragraph,  or  group  its  material? 

Coherence 

coherence         ^  u'terarv  work  has  Coherence  when  the  relation  of 

in  literary     one  parj-  j-o  another  is  clearly  shown.    A  proper  care  for 

sequence,  connection,  and  arrangement  gives  coherence 


COHERENCE  27 

> 

to  the  sentence,  the  paragraph,  and  the  entire  composi- 
tion.    The  necessity  for  sequence  and  paragraph  con- 
nection, and  ways  of  providing  for  them,  have  already 
been   explained.     To   gain  coherence  in  the  sentence,  coherence 
modifiers  should  be  so   placed   that  there  may  be  no  sentence 
doubt  as  to  what  they  modify,  conjunctions  should  be 
wisely  chosen,  and  reference  words  should  clearly  relate 
to  their  antecedents.     If  possible,  put  modifiers  next  the  whereto 

, .  r  place  modi- 

words  they  modify.  ners 

EXERCISES 

I.  In  the  following  quoted  sentence  the  clause  beginning 
with  which  appears  to  modify  body.     What  does  it  modify? 

"This  formidable  baron  was  clad  in  a  leathern  doublet,  fitted 
close  to  his  body,  which  was  frayed,  and  soiled  with  the  stains  of 
his  armor." 

II.  Give  coherence  to  the  sentence  quoted  in  I,  by  omit- 
ting which  was  and  putting  frayed  before  leathern. 

III.  Give  coherence  to  the  sentence  quoted  in  I,  by  insert- 
ing close-fitting  before  leathern  and  omitting  fitted  close  to  his 
body. 

IV.  Reconstruct  the  following  sentences  so  that  they  shall 
have  coherence  :  — 

1.  " '  Father,'  said  young  Jerry,  as  they  walked  along,  taking  care 
to  keep  at  arm's  length  and  to  have  the  stool  well  between  them, 
'  what's  a  Resurrection-Man  ? ' " 

[Taking  may  now  modify  either  they  or  Jerry. ,] 

2.  Loyal  and  true,  Macduff  gave  up  everything,  left  his  wife  and 
children,  and  fled  to  England,  that  he  might  there  raise  an  army, 
return  to  Scotland,  and  take  the  tyrant  Macbeth  from  the  throne, 
willing  to  die  and  suffer  all  things  for  the  country  he  loved. 

[The  expression  beginning  with  willing  modifies  Macduff ^\ 


28 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Only  should  usually  come  just  before  its  principal. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.   It  is  only  three  o'clock. 

II.  He  studied  only  that  he  might  win  the  scholarship. 

III.  It  has  been  used  for  only  a  month. 

The  phrases  at  least,  at  all  events,  at  any  rate,  indeed, 
in  truth,  to  be  sure,  should  be  so  placed  that  there  may 
be  no  doubt  as  to  what  they  restrict. 

Carefulness  in  the  use  of  prepositions  and  conjunc- 
tions, of  all  words  that  connect  or  show  relationship,  is 
a  necessity  if  one  would  have  composition  clear  and 
satisfactory.  But,  for  instance,  does  not  do  the  work  of 
and ;  and  unites,  but  disjoins,  introducing  a  contrast  or 
an  opposing  idea  or  thought.  However  is  lighter  than 
but  in  effect,  and  is  placed  somewhat  within  the  expres- 
sion to  which  it  belongs.  One  writes,  for  example, 
"  There  was,  however,  something  in  his  presence  unlike 
that  of  his  neighbors." 

Correlative  words  —  connectives,  adverbs,  etc.,  used 
with  reference  to  each  other  —  are  most  useful  in  bind- 
ing the  parts  of  sentences  together.  They  are  such 
pairs  of  words  as:  not  only  —  but  also;  either — or; 
neither — nor;  although — yet;  both  —  and;  on  the  one 
hand —  on  the  other  Jiand. 

Not  only  —  but  also  and  not — but  should  each  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  same  part  of  speech  :  for  instance,  if  an 
adjective  follows  the  first  correlative  of  either  pair,  an 
adjective  should  follow  the  second ;  if  a  preposition 
comes  immediately  after  the  first,  a  preposition  should 
come  immediately  after  the  second. 


COHERENCE  29 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.    He  is  not  only  tall,  but  also  strong. 

II.  They  are  distinguished,  not  only  for  their  brilliancy,  but  also 
for  their  integrity. 

The  correlative  for  as  in  an  affirmative  comparison  is  The  correla- 
tives as  — 
as,  in  a  negative  comparison  it  is  so.  as,  so  — as 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  She  Was  very  pretty;  as  graceful  as  a  bird,  and  graceful 
much  in  the  same  way ;  as  pleasant  about  the  house  as  a  gleam  of 
sunshine  falling  on  the  floor  through  a  shadow  of  twinkling  leaves, 
or  as  a  ray  of  firelight  that  dances  on  the  wall  while  evening  is  draw- 
ing nigh. 

II.    Half  Dome  is  not  so  high  as  Cloud's  Rest. 

III.  I  would  not  hurry  away  from  any  pleasure  —  no,  not  even 
from  so  mild  a  one  as  this. 

The  list  given  below  indicates  the  proper  use  of  sev- 
eral sets  of  expressions  more  or  less  correlative. 

different  —  from  though  —  yet 

scarcely  —  when  when  —  then 

seldom  —  or  never  where  —  there 

such  —  as  whether  —  or 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.    My  point  of  view  is  different  from  his. 

II.  We  had  scarcely  passed  through  the  gateway  when  the 
gong  sounded. 

III.  They  are  seldom  or  never  late. 

IV.  I  should  enjoy  such  a  trip  as  you  have  planned. 

V.    Though  the  work  is  hard,  yet  it  will  not  overtax  him. 
VI.    When  the  signal  strikes,  then  release  the  weight. 
VII.   Where  the  path  ends,  there  you  will  find  the  ruins  of  the 
fort. 

VIII.    Whether  they  approve  or  disapprove,  the  explanation  must 
be  made. 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Repetition 
of  the 
article 


Group  in  ex- 
pression 
what  is 
grouped  in 
thought 

Parts  of 
like  import 


When  two  or  more  adjectives  have  reference  to  the 
same  noun,  the  article,  if  needed,  should  be  used  only 
before  the  first;  but  the  article  should  be  repeated  if 
the  reference  is  to  two  or  more  objects  of  the  same 
name. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  He  is  a  wise  and  brave  man.  II.  He  speaks 
to  the  wise  and  the  brave  man ;  they  will  heed  his  words. 

Rarely  should  a  word  separate  the  infinitive  from  its 
sign  to.  A  sign  loses  its  significance  if  removed  from 
that  which  it  indicates. 

A  sentence  is  the  expression  of  a  thought.  If  in 
orderly  thought  ideas  form  a  group,  they  should  be 
grouped  in  expression.  Moreover,  the  same  form  of 
expression  should  be  given  to  the  parts  of  a  sentence 
that  are  alike  in  their  import. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  In  "  Ivanhoe,"  Rowena  pleads  thus  with  Cedric  to  take  under 
his  protection  Isaac  of  York's  party  :  "  The  man  is  old  and  feeble," 
she  said  to  her  guardian,  "the  maiden  young  and  beautiful,  their 
friend  sick  and  in  peril  of  his  life."     Note  that  "old  and  feeble," 
"  young  and  beautiful,"  "  sick  and  in  peril  of  his  life,"  all  are  adjec- 
tive expressions.     Each  of  the  three  expressions  performs  the  same 
sort  of  service  in  the  sentence,  and  the  similarity  of  service  is  marked 
by  the  similarity  of  form. 

II.  Of  the  following  sentences  those  marked  I  £,  26,  and  3$  are 
corrections  of  those  marked  i  a,  2  a,  3  a :  — 

i  a.  Following  him  stealthily,  was  a  wolf,  gray,  lean,  and  he  had 
a  hungry  look. 

i  b.  Following  him  stealthily,  was  a  wolf,  gray,  lean,  and  hungry- 
looking. 


COHERENCE  31 

2  a.    He  was  a  man  of  frugality,  of  independence,  and  honesty  was 
one  of  his  traits. 

•zb.    He  was  a  man  of  frugality,  independence,  and  honesty. 

3  a.   Women  that  neglect  their  homes  and  thieving  men  menace 
society. 

3  b.   Women  that  neglect  their  homes  and  men  that  steal,  menace 
society. 

4  a.    She  stepped  softly  forward,  peered  through  an  opening,  and 
the  glass  in  her  hand  was  dropped. 

4  b.  She  stepped  softly  forward,  peered  through  an  opening,  and 
dropped  the  glass  in  her  hand. 

[In  4 a  the  change  from  the  active  to  the  passive  voice  was 
unnecessary  and  confusing.] 

EXERCISE 

Write  a  sequence  of  three  short  paragraphs  about  one  of  the 
following  groups  of  topics.  Be  careful  so  to  place  modifiers  — 
next  their  principals  if  possible  —  that  there  may  be  no  doubt 
as  to  what  they  modify ;  a  degree  of  coherence  will  thus  be 
secured.  The.  fact  that  the  topics  under  each  subject  form 
a  sequence  will  help  to  give  coherence  to  the  work  as  a 
whole. 

I.   Our  Attic. 

1.  The  place  itself. 

2.  Its  contents. 

3.  One  interesting  relic  we  found. 

II.    My  First  Lesson  in  Swimming. 

1.  The  place. 

2.  My  instructor. 

3.  What  I  accomplished. 

III.    A  Mysterious  Box. 

1 .  The  weatherworn  chest. 

2.  Who  first  owned  it. 

3.  How  it  came  into  the  possession  of  its  present  owner. 


32  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

• 

IV.     The  Scene  I  would  Paint. 

1.  The  scene  I  should  choose  if  I  were  to  paint  a  picture. 

2.  Why  I  should  select  it. 

3.  What  would  be  the  most  interesting  feature  (the  climax) 

of  my  picture. 

V.    The  Development  of  Silas  Marner's  Character. 

1.  Under  the  influence  of  William  Dane. 

2.  Under  the  influence  of  the  gold. 

3.  Under  the  influence  of  Eppie. 

VI.    Some  Contrasts  in  "  Silas  Marner." 

1 .  Priscilla  and  Nancy. 

2.  The  New  Year's  party  and  Molly's  journey. 

3.  Marner's  two  treasures  :  the  gold  and  Eppie. 


CHAPTER   III 

ANSWERS   TO   PUPILS'   INQUIRIES  — I 
Punctuation 


PUNCTUATION  marks  are  used  for  the  purpose  of  hav-  usefulness 
ing  the  meaning  of  what  one  writes  swiftly  and  surely  tion  marks 
grasped.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  punctuate  a  well- 

, .  _  Necessity 

constructed  sentence.  If  its  modifiers  are  placed  next  ofconerence 
the  expressions  they  modify  and  if  each  of  its  reference 
words  may  relate  to  but  one  thing,  a  sentence  conveys 
its  meaning  with  little  aid  from  punctuation.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  most  careful  punctuation  may  fail  to 
overcome  faults  in  construction.  The  following  sen- 
tence means  that  the  seceding  citizens  formed  a  sepa- 
rate community,  but  appears  to  mean  that  the  main 
body  of  people  formed  that  community  ;  the  misplaced 
relative  clause  obscures  the  thought,  in  spite  of  the 
comma  after  people :  — 

A  part  of  the  citizens  seceded  from  the  main  body  of  the  people, 
who  formed  a  separate  community  on  the  neighboring  marshes. 

Grammars  explain  that  a  question  mark(?)is  required  HOW  to 

punctuate  a 

at  the  end  of  an  interrogative  sentence,  and  an  excla-  sentence 

.    .   /.,  r  both  inter- 

mation  point  (!)  at  the  end  of  a  sentence  that  expresses  rogative 
much  emotion.     Not  all  grammars  state,  however,  how  ciamatory 

33 


34 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


a  sentence  that  is  both  interrogative  and  exclamatory 
should  be  punctuated.  One  should  not  use  the  two 
marks.  If  the  sentence  is  written  chiefly  to  convey 
emotion,  an  exclamation  point  should  be  used ;  if  to 
draw  forth  an  answer  is  the  main  object  of  the  sentence, 
an  interrogation  point  should  be  the  final  mark.  The 
sentence,  "  Oh,  must  I  do  it !  "  is  both  interrogative  and 
exclamatory.  Its  writer  chose  to  punctuate  with  the 
exclamation  point,  therefore  feeling  rather  than  inquiry 
is  predominant. 

The  points        The  exclamation  and  the  interrogation  points  are  used 
tionand in-  within  the  sentence  as  well  as  at  its  end. 

terrogation 
within  the 

sentence  ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Is  this,  then,  your  experience  of  mankind  ?  or  is  it  because 
you  find  me  with  red  hands  that  you  presume  such  baseness  ? 

II.  "Oh  !  that  flagon  !  that  wicked  flagon  !"  thought  Rip. 
[Note  that  or  in  I  and  that  in  II  begin  with  small  letters.] 


The  direct 
quotation 

The 

indirect 

quotation 


Quotation-marks  ("  ")  are  used  to  indicate  a  direct 
quotation.  A  direct  quotation  gives  the  exact  words  of 
the  person  quoted.  An  indirect  quotation  gives  the 
substance  of  a  person's  speech,  but  not  in  his  own 
language.  Indirect  quotations  do  not  require  quotation- 
marks. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  (Direct  quotation.)     "  I  will  not  do  it,"  said,  the  captain.      "  I 
am  as  daring  as  any  man,  but  I  will  not  run  such  a  risk." 

II.  (Indirect  quotation.)    The  captain  said  that  he  would  not  do 
it,  that  he  was  as  daring  as  any  man,  but  that  he  would  not  run  such 
a  risk. 


PUNCTUATION  35 


EXERCISES 

I.  Change   the   indirect    quotation   contained   in   the   first 
quoted  sentence  on  page  16,  to  the  direct  form;  give  a  reason 
for  any  resulting  change  in  punctuation. 

II.  Make  the  following  direct  quotations  indirect ;  give  a 
reason  for  each  consequent  change  in  punctuation  :  — 

a.  "'Ah  !  there  are  men  in  the  world  who  can  make  wit  out  of 
anything ! '  said  he  to  himself." 

b.  " '  Good  lad  ! '  said  Ser  Francesco,  rubbing  his  eyes,  •  toss  the 
biggest  of  them  out  of  the  way,  and  never  mind  the  rest.' " 

In  referring  to  books,  essays,  etc.,  by  their  titles,  one  Titles  of 

books 

uses  quotation-marks  with  the  titles. 

If  one  writes  in  a  composition  the  name  of  a  character  A  distmc- 
in  a  play,  that  name  should  be  underscored ;  but  if  the  use  of 
name  designates  a  person  in  his  actual  life,  it  requires 
"no  special  badge  for  identification."  l 

EXAMPLE.  —  King  Richard  in  Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  "  Richard 
the  Third  "  represents  Richard  the  Third  of  England. 

Usually  when  several  successive  paragraphs  or  stanzas  successive 
are  quoted,  quotation-marks  come  before  each,  but  are  paragraphs 
placed  at  the  end  of  only  the  last.     If  a  speech  or  con- 
versation occurs  in  such  quoted  paragraphs,  the  punctu- 
ation must  be  in  accordance  with  that  fact. 

Each  kind  of  punctuation  mark  used  within  the  sen- 
tence is  of  a  peculiar  nature,  and  each  has  its  own  set 
of  duties. 

1  De  Vinne's  "  The  Practice  of  Typography :  Correct  Composition." 
(The  Century  Company.) 


Use  of  the 
dash 


36  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

The  dash  ( — )  shows  a  break  in  the  thought  or  in 
the  construction.  Dashes  sometimes  take  the  place  of 
marks  of  parenthesis  ( ( ) ). 


Use  of  the 
colon 


The  dash 
with  the 
colon 


ILLUSTRATION  OF  THE  USE  OF  THE  DASH 

"  No  music ! "  echoed  my  friend ;  "  how,  then,  does  the  young 
lady  —  He  paused  and  colored ;  for,  as  he  looked  in  the  girl's 
face,  he  saw  that  she  was  blind.  "I  —  I  entreat  your  pardon," 
he  stammered. 

The  colon  is  used  before  a  quotation,  speech,  or  enu- 
meration of  particulars,  when  the  quotation,  speech,  or 
enumeration  is  formally  introduced.  The  colon  is,  then, 
the  mark  that  suggests  the  coming  of  a  part  of  the 
sentence  for  which  evident  preparation  has  been  made. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Reverting  again  to  my  old  note-book,  I  read  this  confession, 
which  I  still  cannot  retract :  "  I  find  that  to  me  works  of  art  do  not 
give  lasting  enjoyment  like  those  of  nature.     I  grow  tired  of  pictures 
—  never  of  a  butterfly." 

II.  The  capital  leading  questions  on  which  you  must  this  day 
decide  are  these  two :  First,  whether  you  ought  to  concede ;  and 
secondly,  what  your  concession  ought  to  be. 

III.  Mr.  Lockhart  has  some  forcible  observations  on  this  point: 
"  It   needs    no    effort    of    imagination,"  says    he,  "  to   conceive 

what  the  sensations  of  an  isolated  set  of  scholars  .  .  .  must  have 
been  in  the  presence  of  this  big-boned,  black-browed,  brawny 
stranger." 

A  dash  might  be  used  after  the  colon  in  III.  The 
dash  placed  after  the  colon  gives  emphasis  to  the  force 
of  the  latter  mark  of  punctuation. 


PUNCTUATION  37 

Were  II   transposed,  the  colon  would  be  used  after  coionwith. 

enumera- 

the  two  particulars,  thus  :  —  tion coming 

first 

First,  whether  you  ought  to  concede ;  and  secondly,  what  your 
concessions  ought  to  be  :  these  are  the  two  capital  leading  questions 
on  which  you  must  this  day  decide. 

In  a  long  sentence,  the  place  of  transition  from  one  use  of 

colon  to 

construction  to  another  or  from  one  statement  to  another  mark  a 

,        i  transition 

is  marked  by  the  colon.1 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  I  see  the  signs  of  the  genial  season  everywhere  :  the  smoke  goes 
up  from  the  garden  rubbish  heaps ;  the  farmhouse  door  stands  open 
and  lets  in  the  afternoon  sun  ;  the  cow  lows  for  her  calf,  or  hides  it 
in  the  woods  ;  and  in  the  morning  the  geese,  sporting  in  the  spring 
sun,  answer  the  call  of  the  wild  flock  steering  northward  above  them. 

II.  He  who  receives  a  good  turn  should  never  forget  it:  he  who 
does  one  should  never  remember  it. 

The  point  of  transition  in  I  is  at  the  close  of  the  in- 
troductory clause;  all  succeeding  clauses  have  a  com- 
mon relation  to  the  first  clause  and  are,  in  effect,  a  list 
of  particulars.  In  II,  the  colon  marks  a  transition  in 
thought  —  from  what  one  should  never  forget  to  what 
one  should  never  remember. 

The  semicolon  is  used  for  the  following  purposes  :  —    The  semi- 
I.    To  separate  from  one  another  members  of  a  sen- 
tence that  have  a  common  dependence  or  relationship,  bers  having 
unless  those  members  be  short  and  have  no  commas  deCpendence 
within  them  (as  in  I.)  shirpelation' 

1  See  foot-note,  page  35. 


PRINCIPLES    OF  RHETORIC 


With  mem- 
bers closely 
related 


II.  To  separate  a  statement  from  another  that  imme- 
diately follows  and  results  from  it,  or  explains  it,  or  illus- 
trates it,  or  repeats  it,  or  is  contrasted  with  it.  If,  how- 
ever, the  statements  be  brief  or  the  comma  is  not  used 
within  them,  they  may  be  separated  from  each  other  by 
the  comma  instead  of  the  semicolon. 


Result 


Explana- 
tion 


Illustration 


Repetition 


Contrast 


With  short 
sentences 
slightly 
connected 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  Again,  with  a  swift  transition  of  his  terrors,  the  very  silence 
of  the  place  appeared  a  source  of  peril,  and  a  thing  to  strike  and 
freeze  the  passer-by ;  and  he  would  step  more  boldly,  and  bustle  aloud 
among  the  contents  of  the  shop,  and  imitate,  with  elaborate  bravado, 
the  movements  of  a  busy  man  at  ease  in  his  own  house. 

2.  Thus  too,  in  some  languages,  is  the  state  of  health  well  de- 
noted by  a  term  expressing  unity ;  when  we  feel  ourselves  as  we  wish 
to  be,  we  say  that  we  are  whole. 

3.  They  were  cheery  little  imps,  who  sucked  up  fragrance  and 
pleasantness  out  of  their  surroundings,  dreary  as  these  looked  ;  even 
as  a  flower  can  find  its  proper  perfume  in  any  soil  where  its  seed 
happens  to  fall. 

4.  Dante  is  the  spokesman  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  the  thought  they 
lived  by  stands  here  in  everlasting  music. 

5.  Son,  son,  I  have  borne  thee  in  my  arms  when  my  limbs  were 
tottering,  and  I  have  fed  thee  with  the  food  that  I  was  fainting  for ; 
yet  I  have  ill  performed  a  mother's  part  by  thee. 

III.  To  separate  several  short  sentences  only  slightly 
connected  in  meaning  or  in  construction. 

EXAMPLE.  —  The  air  was  sweet  with  perfume ;  birds  sang  to  each 
other  from  the  coverts ;  the  adjacent  cascades  played  their  steady, 
muffled  music. 

EXERCISE 

To  be  completed  :  — "  The  year  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy-six  was  memorable  :  .  .  .  "  Complete  the  preceding 


PUNCTUATION  39 

indicated  sentence  by  citing  a  series  of  facts  to  support  its 
opening  statement.  One  might  tell  of  several  things  that  oc- 
curred in  the  year  mentioned.  The  semicolon  will  be  the  mark 
to  separate  the  statements  from  one  another.  Give  a  reason 
for  its  use.  Give  a  reason  for  the  use  of  the  colon  after  the 
preliminary  statement. 

The  comma  is  used  to  mark  lesser  pauses  in  the  sen- 
tence :  to  set  off  ( i )  an  introductory  word,  (2)  an  inverted 
phrase,  (3)  a  participial  phrase,  (4)  an  explanatory  clause, 
(5)  a  subordinate  clause  not  restrictive,  (6)  a  parentheti- 
cal expression,  (7)  the  name  of  a  person  or  thing  ad- 
dressed, (8)  an  appositive,  (9)  a  long  subject,  (10)  a 
quotation  informally  introduced,  (n)  a  series  of  short 
expressions  belonging  to  the  same  class  and,  if  the  ex- 
pressions are  modifiers,  modifying  one  thing,  etc.  Ex- 
amples illustrating  the  proper  use  of  the  comma  in  each 
of  the  eleven  cases  enumerated,  are  given  below;  the 
figures  designating  the  illustrations  correspond  to  those 
used  in  the  enumeration. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  Indeed,  I  had  no  intention  of  alarming  you. 

2.  To  suffer  and  to  do,  that  was  thy  portion  in  this  life. 

3.  We  strolled  a  long  way,  loading  ourselves  with  things  that  we 
thought  curious. 

4.  The  distant  form  separated  itself  from  the  trees,  which  partly 
hid  its  motions,  and  advanced  toward  the  knight. 

5.  Man's  best-directed  effort  accomplishes  a  kind  of  dream,  while 
God  is  the  sole  worker  of  realities. 

6.  The  fireplace,  it  should  be  noted,  was  built  on  the  side  of  the 
room  opposite  to  the  windows. 

7.  My  children,  we  are  here  face  to  face  with  a  great  mystery. 


PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 


Punctua- 
tion marks 
sometimes 
used  for 
emphasis 


Use  of  the 
hyphen 

Division  of 
words 


When 
words 
should  not 
be  divided 
into  sylla- 
bles 


Use  of  the 
apostrophe 


8.  The  iron-hearted  Puritan,  the  relentless  persecutor,  the  grasp- 
ing and  strong-willed  man,  was  dead. 

9.  A  shadowy  conception  of  power  that  by  much  persuasion  can 
be  induced  to  refrain  from  inflicting  harm,  is  the  shape  most  easily 
taken  by  the  sense  of  the  Invisible  in  the  minds  of  men  who  have 
always  been  pressed  close  by  primitive  wants. 

10.  "The  man's  head  is  turned,11  muttered  the  lime-burner  to 
himself. 

1 1 .  Heaped  upon  the  floor,  to  form  a  kind  of  throne,  were  turkeys, 
geese,  game,  poultry,  brawn,  great  joints  of  meat,  sucking  pigs,  long 
wreaths  of  sausages,  mince-pies,  plum-puddings,  barrels  of  oysters, 
red-hot  chestnuts,  cherry-cheeked  apples,  juicy  oranges,  luscious  pears, 
immense  twelfth  cakes,  and  seething  bowls  of  punch  that  made  the 
chamber  dim  with  their  delicious  steam. 

Sometimes  a  punctuation  mark  not  actually  needed 
for  clearness  may  be  used  to  emphasize  what  comes 
after  it,  as  in  the  following  sentence  :  — 

"  He  catches  the  sweet  sentiments  and  passions,  and  throws  them 
upon  the  canvas.11 

[The  comma  after  passions  is  needed  only  for  emphasis.] 

The  hyphen  (-)  unites  the  parts  of  some  compound 
words,  and  indicates  the  division  of  words  into  syllables. 

In  writing,  words  are  usually  divided  into  syllables  in 
accordance  with  their  pronunciation. 

Do  not  divide  a  proper  noun.  Avoid  so  dividing  a 
word  that  a  syllable  of  one  letter  will  come  at  the  begin- 
ning or  at  the  end  of  a  line.  Such  a  syllable  might  be 
mistaken  for  a  word. 

EXAMPLE.  —  It  flew  a- 
way  over  the  tree-tops. 

The  apostrophe  (')  indicates  the  possessive  case  (but 
not  of  pronouns)  or  the  omission  of  a  letter  or  letters. 


PUNCTUATION  41 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  We    turned    down   lanes   bestrewn   with   bits   of    chips    and 
little  hillocks  of  sand,  and  went  past  gas-works,  rope-walks,  boat- 
builders'1  yards,-  riggers'  lofts,  smiths'  forges,  and  a  great  litter  of 
such  places,  until  we  came  out  upon  the  dull  waste  I  had  already 
seen  at  a  distance. 

II.  "  It's  not  convenient  and  it's  not  fair.     If  I  were  to  stop  half 
a  crown  for  it,  you'd  think  yourself  ill-used,  I'll  be  bound?  " 

III.  Its  fur  was  soft. 

IV.  The  book  is  ours,  the  picture  is  yours,  and  the  tapestry  is 
theirs. 

An  abbreviation  is  marked  by  a  period.  Abbrevia- 

tions 

EXERCISES 

I.    Give  a  reason  for  the  use  of  each  punctuation  mark  in 
the  following  quoted  sentences  :  — 

1 .  I  could  tell  you  of  a  case  —  but  that  is  another  story. 

2.  A  more  worldly  consideration  had,  perhaps,  an  influence  in      ( 
drawing  him  thither;  for  New  England  offered  advantages  to  men 

of  unprosperous  fortunes. 

3.  Theodore  held  the  little  fluttering   thing  in   his   hand ;    he 
curved  his  soft  palm  about  its  trembling  body. 

4.  The  thought  was  agreed  to  be  a  good  one ;  they  hired  a  fur- 
nace and  turned  goldsmiths. 

5.  "  Eat,  my  friend,  eat,  my  dear  boy,  don't  despise  our  country 
cheer." 

6.  The  old  ocean-polished  pebbles  appeared,  dull  red,  and  gray, 
and  green,  and  yellow. 

7.  And  it  was  so  all  the  way ;  thousands  upon  thousands  massed 
upon  their  knees  and  stretching  far  down  the  distances,  thick-sown 
with  the  faint  yellow  candle  flames,  like  a  field  starred  with  golden 
flowers. 

8.  The  spring   is  the  morning  sunlight,  clear  and  determined; 
the  autumn,  the  afternoon  rays,  pensive,  lessening,  golden. 


42  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

9.  He  was  thinking  with  double  complacency  of  his  supper: 
first,  because  it  would  be  hot  and  savory ;  and  secondly,  because  it 
would  cost  him  nothing. 

10.  He  played  a  game  of  skill,  depending  on  the  rules. 

11.  He  who  has  much  looked  on  at  the  childish  satisfaction  of 
other  people  in  their  hobbies,  will  regard  his  own  with  only  a  very 
ironical  indulgence. 

12.  But  these  transparent  natures  are  often  deceptive  in  their 
depth  ;  those  pebbles  at  the  bottom  of  the  fountain  are  farther  from 
us  than  we  think. 

13.  All  things  living  had  hidden  themselves  ;  even  the  sparrows 
made  no  sound,  and  the  rooks  had  long  ago  disappeared  from  sight. 

14.  The  Eastern  Cavalier,  who  remembered  the  strength  and 
dexterity  with  which  his  antagonist  had  aimed,  seemed  to  keep  cau- 
tiously out  of  reach  of  the  weapon. 

15.  She  checked  me,  however,  as  I  was  about  to  depart  from  her 
—  so  frozen  as  I  was  —  and  added  this:   "Submission,  self-denial, 
diligent   work,  are  the  preparations  for  a   life  begun  with  such  a 
shadow  on  it." 

1 6.  He  disengaged  his  lance  from  his  saddle,  seized  it  with  the 
right  hand,  placed  it  in  rest  with  its  point  half  elevated,  gathered 
up  the  reins  in  the  left,  waked  his  horse's  mettle  with  the  spur,  and 
prepared  to  encounter  the  stranger  with  the  calm  self-confidence 
belonging  to  the  victor  in  many  contests. 

17.  So  he  had  his  way  of  life  :  he  invited  no  comer  to  step  across 
his  door-sill,  and  he  never  strolled  into  the  village  to  drink  a  pint  at 
the  Rainbow,  or  to  gossip  at  the  wheelwright's  ;  he  sought  no  man 
or  woman  save  for  the  purposes  of  his  calling;  and  it  was  soon 
clear  to  the  Raveloe  lasses  that  he  would  never  urge  one  of  them  to 
accept  him  against  her  will. 

II.  Might  the  preceding  sentence  be  so  changed  that  the 
preliminary  expression  would  come  last  and  summarize?     How 
should  the  sentence  then  be  punctuated  ? 

III.  Write  an  original  sentence  in  which  you  correctly  use 
the  colon  and  the  semicolon.     Explain  how  you  know  that 
your  punctuation  is  correct. 


CHAPTER   IV 

FORMS   OF    SENTENCES 
The  Loose,  the  Balanced,  and  the  Periodic  Sentence 

A  SENTENCE  expresses  a  thought.     Grammarians  say, 
"An  independent  clause  has  a  subject  and  a  predicate; 
it  might  stand  alone  and  make  complete  sense "  —  that 
is,  convey  a  thought.     Every  independent  clause,  then,  whyinde- 
might  have  been  a  sentence.     If  one  were  asked  why 
such  a  clause  does  not  stand  alone  as  complete  in  itself, 
one  would  probably  say,  "  The  writer  preferred  to  com-  tences 
bine  it  with  other  expressions."     That  would  be  true, 
but  something  more  is  true  :  the  thought  to  be  expressed 
mastered  the  writer.     If  he  were  honest  and  skilful,  it 
led   him  to  choose  the   form   best   suited   to   its   free 
expression.      The    live    thing    in    the   sentence   is   the  The 
thought  it  holds ;    that  live  thing  will  shape  the  sen-  shapes  the 

.  .     .,  .1)11  sentence 

tence,  with  the  author  s  help. 

There  are  rhetorical,  as  well  as  grammatical,  forms 
for  sentences.  Three  rhetorical  forms  are  represented 
in  the  following  quotations  :  — 

I.  The  Tory,  removed  from  the  sunshine  of  the  court,  was  as  a 
camel  in  the  snows  of  Lapland ;  the  Whig,  basking  in  the  rays  of 
royal  favor,  was  as  a  reindeer  in  the  sands  of  Arabia. 

43 


44  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

II.  On  the  edge  of  a  wood  which  approached  to  within  a  mile  of 
the  town  of  Ashby,  surrounded  on  one  side  by  the  forest  and  fringed 
on  the  other  by  straggling  oak-trees,  was  an  extensive  meadow. 

III.  Yes  ;  there  is  a  slight  change  —  an  improvement,  I  think,  in 
the  picture,  though  none  in  the  likeness. 

The  names  for  the  types  of  sentences  represented  by 
Balanced      I,  II,  III,  are  :  Balanced,  Periodic,  Loose.     I  seems  to 

sentence  . 

weigh,  or  balance,  one  thing  with  another,  and  similar 

Periodic       parts  are  given  similar  forms.     II  does  not  give  up  its 

Loose  meaning  until  the  last  word  is  read.     Ill  is  the  easy 

sentence       conversational  sentence,  so  loose  in  its  construction  that 

it  might  have  been  stopped  before  its  end  and  yet  have 

expressed  a  thought. 

One  is  likely  to  use  many  loose  sentences  in  conver- 
sation ;  the  balanced  form  is  especially  helpful  in  com- 
parisons or  contrasts ;  and  the  periodic  sentence  rouses 
attention  and  holds  it  fast,  not  satisfying  curiosity  or 
interest  until  its  close. 

The  two  parts  of  the  balanced  sentence  are  as  nearly 
alike  in  form  as  possible ;  attention  is  thus  concentrated 
upon  the  difference  in  their  meaning.  If  one  wished  to 
bring  out  the  fact  that  two  books  differed  in  color,  one 
would  make  the  color  difference  more  quickly  observed 
if  one  chose  books  alike  in  every  other  respect  —  in  size, 

lettering,  etc. 

ILLUSTRATION 

The  following  balanced  sentence,  selected  from  student  work,  is 
correct  in  form.  Note  that  the  construction  of  the  second  clause  is 
almost  word  for  word  like  that  of  the  first :  — 

Here  is  the  patriot,  with  upright  bearing,  walking  with  firm 
tread,  courageously  looking  you  straight  in  the  eye,  eager  to  do  his 


FORMS    OF   SENTENCES  45 

country  and  his  Maker  a  service ;  and  there  the  coward,  with 
cringing  mien,  moving  with  halting  footsteps,  covertly  avoiding  a 
direct  glance,  anxious  only  to  escape  his  responsibility  to  his  country 

and  his  God. 

f 

EXERCISES 

I.  Select    four  of  the    following   subjects   of  thought  and 
write  one  sentence  about  each.     Try  to  do  justice  to  your  own 
thought ;  remember  that  there  is  a  form  which  suits  it  better 
than  any  other. 

1 .  The  two  rival  candidates. 

2.  The  critical  moment  of  the  contest. 

3.  The  wise  man  and  the  fool. 

4.  Intently  we  watched  his  progress. 

5.  Jack's  apparently  careless,  but  telling,  rejoinder. 

6.  The  two  answers. 

7.  Her  story  was  told  in  a  breath. 

8.  The  flight  of  the  arrow. 

9.  The  bearing  of  Rowena  and  that  of  Rebecca,  during  their 
imprisonment.     (See  Scott's  "Ivanhoe.") 

10.  The  coward  and  the  hero  entered. 

I 1 .  Coriolanus  at  the  time  of  his  greatest  victory,  and  later,  when 
he   yielded  to  his  mother's  supplications  and  spared  Rome.      (See 
''Plutarch's  Lives"  or  Shakespeare's  "Coriolanus.") 

12.  When  I  gave  the  alarm. 

13.  The  hospitality  extended  by  the  Saxon  Cedric  to  the  Nor- 
mans when  they  came  to  him  for  a  night's  lodging,  contrasted  with 
that  shown   by  Prince  John  toward  the  Saxons  when  the  prince 
entertained  Cedric  and  Athelstane  at  his  banquet  after  the  Ashby 
tournament.     (See  Scott's  "Ivanhoe.") 

11.  Define  the  rhetorical  terms  loose,  balanced,  periodic, 
III.    Classify  the  sentences  written  in  response  to  the  preced- 
ing requirement,  as  loose,  balanced,  or  periodic.    Give  a  reason 
for  each  classification. 


46 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


A  writer 
must  be- 
come his 
own  critic 


A  writer  knows  his  purpose  in  each  composition.  He 
must  become  the  judge  of  his  own  work.  Every  writer 
needs,  therefore,  continually  to  increase  his  knowledge 
anM  skill ;  he  needs  to  become  more  and  more  artistic. 
If  he  does  not  do  this  he  will  probably  feel  that  his 
work  is  inferior,  but  he  will  not  be  able  to  understand 
what  makes  it  inferior;  as  a  consequence,  he  will  not 
improve  and  will  become  discouraged.  In  order  to 
achieve,  and  to  enjoy  achievement,  a  writer  must  learn 
more  and  more  about  his  craft. 


Sentences  with,  and  •without,  Introductory  Expressions 

Read  the  following  sentences  :  — 

I.  Great   branches  drew   themselves   up   fearfully.      Mean   and 
shapeless  bushes  whistled  in  the  glades.     The  tall  grass  wriggled 
under  the  north  wind  like  eels.     The  brambles  twisted  about  like 
long  arms.  .  .  .     Some  dry  weeds  driven  by  the  wind  passed  rapidly 
by,  and  appeared  to  flee  with  dismay  before  something  that  was 
following.     The  prospect  was  dismal. 

VICTOR  HUGO :  "  Les  Miserables." 

II.  After  a  considerable  interval,  not  hearing  anything  more,  he 
turned  round  without  making  any  noise,  and,  as  he  raised  his  eyes 
toward  the  door  of  his  room,  he  saw  a  light  through  the  keyhole. 

VICTOR  HUGO :  "  Les  Miserables." 

III.  When  the  mortal  mists  were  gathering  fast  upon  you  two, 
bishop  and  shepherd  girl  —  when  the  pavilions  of  life  were  closing 
up  their  shadowy  curtains  about  you  —  let  us  try,  through  the  gigan- 
tic glooms,  to  decipher  the  flying  features  of  your  separate  visions. 

THOMAS  DE  QUINCEY  :   "  Joan  of  Arc." 

Usefulness        Each  sentence  in  I  is  made  up  of  a  direct  statement, 

of  introduc- 

toryexpres-  the  subject  coming  near  the  beginning;  while  II  and 
III    have  introductory  expressions.      The   preliminary 


FORMS   OF   SENTENCES 


47 


expressions  give  the  time  of  the  event,  or  set  the  stage 
for  action,  or  in  some  other  way  enable  the  reader  to 
appreciate  the  conclusion  of  the  sentence.     Statements  value  of 
preceded  by  suitable  introductory  expressions,  therefore,  statements 
come  to  the  reader  after  he  has  been  put  into  the  mood, 
or  has  been  otherwise  prepared,  to  receive  them.     Little 
effort  is  required  to  grasp  the  meaning  of  direct  state- 
ments.   News  items  often  are  direct  in  statement,  because 
they  should  be  easily  understood  even  if  very  quickly 
read. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Note  the  usefulness  of  direct  statements  in  the  following 
news  item  :  — 

"  Much  vital  American  history  is  written  in  the  old  overland 
routes.  The  patriotism  which  led  Kansas  to  appropriate  money 
to  mark  the  Santa  Fd  trail  is  not  merely  local  but  national.  The 
Appian  Way  in  Italy  and  the  Roman  roads  in  England  record  the 
history  of  a  great  past ;  the  early  American  trails  led  to  the  present 
powerful  life  of  the  West." 

II.  Note  the  effect  of  introductory  expressions  in  the  follow- 
ing sentences :  — 

1.  When  the  clock  in  the  steeple  of  the  village  church  struck 
twelve,  the  watchman,  going  his  rounds  with  measured  pace,  shiv- 
ered and  walked  a  trifle  faster  as  he  passed  the  shadowy  graveyard. 

2.  Far  out  on  the  desert,  we  could  see  the  creeping  figure  of  a  lion. 

3.  Coming  alone  across  the  fresh -ploughed  fields,  swinging  his 
empty  basket,  and  singing  in  his  happy,  hearty  way,  he  thought  of  the 
welcome  awaiting  him  in  the  little  white  cottage  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

4.  On  the  edge  of  the  marsh,  where  the  water  lapped  gently  on 
the  shore,  stood  a  woman  straining  her  ears  for  the  sound  of  oars. 

5.  I  lifted  the  cover  and  disclosed,  nestling  together  for  warmth 
deep  in  the  straw,  little  woolly  balls  of  white  —  old  Tabby's  latest 
children. 


48  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

III.  Write  a  news  item  for  a  school  paper.     Let  your  sen- 
tences be  direct  in  statement. 

IV.  Write  a  sentence  about  one  subject  in  each  of  the  fol- 
lowing groups ;  use  introductory  expressions  to  prepare  for  the 
conclusion  of  the  sentence. 

1 .  A  solitary  figure : 

a.  On  a  street  at  midnight.          c.    In  the  anchor  watch. 

b.  On  the  deck  of  a  ship.  d.    Knocking  at  a  door. 

2.  The  flash  of  the  welcome  light : 

a.  From  the  headlight  of  the  locomotive. 

b.  From  the  window. 

c.  From  the  wharf. 

V.  Write  a  sequence  of  paragraphs  about  one  of  the  follow- 
ing groups,  observe  unity  and  provide  for  paragraph  connection, 
and  bring  out  the  main  idea  of  each  paragraph  (page  12). 

1.  My  walk  to  school. 

Some  things  I  pass  on  my  way. 
The  part  of  the  walk  I  most  enjoy. 

2.  Gathering  the  scattered  wood. 
Building  the  fire. 

The  scene  disclosed  by  the  flames. 

3.  Our  playground  in  October. 
In  midwinter. 

In  the  early  springtime. 

4.  The  lighthouse. 
Our  inspection  of  it. 
The  keeper  of  the  light. 

5.  Where  the  story  was  told. 
The  story-teller. 

The  effect  of  his  tale. 

6.  (See  "  Silas  Marner.")     The  influence :  — 
Of  the  squire  upon  his  sons. 

Of  Nancy  upon  Godfrey. 

Of  the  villagers  upon  Marner. 


CHAPTER   V 

ANSWERS   TO   PUPILS'   INQUIRIES  — II 
Punctuation  —  ( Continued ) 

IN  "  The  hut  has  only  two  small  dingy  windows,"  a  omission 
comma  is  not  used  after  two  or  after  small,  because  it  from  appar 
is   small  dingy  windows  to  which  the  word  two  has 
reference,  not  windows  alone,  and  because  it  is  dingy 
windows t  not  windows  alone,  to  which  small  refers. 

One  may  know  whether  to  use  commas  as  well  as  use  of 
dashes  or  marks  of  parenthesis  to  set  off  an  explanatory 
expression,  by  noting  whether  or  not  a  comma  would  be  parei 
required  if  the  sentence  were  written  without  that  ex- 
planatory expression.  If  the  comma  would  then  be 
required,  it  is  used  before  the  dashes  or  after  the  paren- 
thesis. If  the  comma  would  not  be  needed  in  the  sen- 
tence provided  the  explanatory  expression  were  omitted, 
it  is  not  used  before  the  dashes  or  after  the  parenthesis. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  They  were  fast  approaching  (in  a  literal  sense)  the  final  stage 
of  their  long  pilgrimage. 

II.  It  is  the   idea   of  duration  —  of  earthly  immortality  —  that 
gives  such  a  mysterious  interest  to  our  own  portraits. 

49 


PRINCIPLES    OF    RHETORIC 


Punctua- 
tion of  con- 
tinuous 
conversa- 
tion 


Punctua- 
tion of  a 
broken 
quotation 


A  quotation 
within  a 
quotation 


A  third 
quotation 
within  a 
second,  etc. 


End  of  a 
quotation 
and  the 
quotation 
within  it 


III.  His  gold-headed  cane,  too,  —  a  serviceable  staff  of  dark  pol- 
ished wood,  —  had  similar  traits,  and,  had  it  chosen  to  take  a  walk 
by  itself,  would  have  been  recognized  anywhere  as  a  tolerably  adequate 
representative  of  its  master. 

IV.  He  was  clothed  with  scales  like  a  fish  (and  they  were  his 
pride),  he  had  wings  like  a  dragon,  and  feet  like  a  bear. 

In  quoted  continuous  conversation,  remarks  or  speeches 
by  different  persons  may  follow  one  another  in  the  same 
paragraph,  the  end  of  each  speech  being  indicated  by  a 
dash;  or,  as  is  usual  and  generally  preferable,  a  new 
paragraph  may  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  speech. 

When  a  quotation  is  broken  by  some  explanatory,  or 
other,  expression,  the  part  before  the  break  and  that 
after  it  are  punctuated  as  though  each  were  a  quotation 
complete  in  itself. 

EXAMPLE.  —  "  It  is  farther  on,"  said  I  ;  "  but  observe  the  white 
web-work  which  gleams  from  these  cavern  walls." 

A  quotation  within  a  quotation  is  punctuated  with 
single  quotation-marks. 

EXAMPLE.  —  "The  lady's  voice  broke  over  them  like  silver  rain. 
<  Let  him  who  thought  of  the  kind  act  give  me  the  milk,'  she  said; 
so  young  Astorre  on  his  knees  handed  her  the  horn  cup,  and  through 
the  cracks  of  his  fingers  watched  her  drink  every  drop." 

Were  one  to  have  a  third  quotation  within  the  second, 
that  third  quotation  would  be  indicated  by  a  return  to 
the  double  quotation-marks,  a  fourth  would  have  the 
single  marks  again. 

If  a  quotation  and  the  quotation  within  it  both  end 
at  the  same  place,  both  the  double  and  the  single  marks 
come  at  the  end. 


PUNCTUATION  5 1 

EXAMPLE.  —  If  any  young  man  of  letters  reads  this  little  sermon, 
I  would  say  to  him,  "  Bear  Scott's  words  in  your  mind,  and  '  be  good, 
my  dear.' " 

EXERCISE 

Rewrite  the  sentence  quoted  above ;  enclose  the  entire  sen- 
tence in  quotation-marks  because  the  sentence  itself  is  quoted. 
Three  sets  of  quotation-marks  will  be  required,  and  marks  to 
indicate  the  close  of  three  quoted  expressions  will  come  at  the 
end  of  the  sentence. 

An  apostrophe  (')  is  the  sign -of  the  possessive  case,  use  of  the 
not  of  the  plural  number,  except  in  such  expressions 
as  "The  7's  and  8's  amounted  to  38,"  "His  p's  might 
be  mistaken  for  his  q's,"  "  Their  exercise  contained  &'s 
and  other  signs."  In  the  examples  given,  the  apostro- 
phe is  used  for  the  sake  of  clearness. 

The  apostrophe  and  s  indicate,  with  a  few  exceptions,  HOW  to  in- 

r  ,  dicate  pos- 

possession  on  the  part  or  persons  alone ;  such  expres-  session  by 
sions  as  "the  climate's  influence,"  "this  barn's  protect-  p 
ing  eaves,"  are  to  be  avoided.       Whose  also  indicates 
possession  on  the  part  of  a  person  or  persons ;  therefore, 
"a  willow  whose   stems  were  light-colored"  would  be 
better  expressed  by  either  of  the  following  :  "  a  willow, 
the  stems  of  which  were  light-colored  "  ;  "a  willow  with 
light-colored  stems."  Possessive 

The  possessive  form  ('s}  is  occasionally  found  in 
idioms  and  is  used  in  some  expressions  denoting  time. 

EXAMPLE.  —  Without  an  hour's  delay.  pressions 

The  plural 

The  sign  of  the  plural  is  usually  added  to  the  main  of  com 
part  of  a  compound  word,  but  it  is  affixed  to  the  end  of  words 


PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 


Compound 
adjectives 


Abbrevia- 
ted ordinals 


Use  of 
capitals 


Capitaliza- 
tion of 
titles 


such  words  as  cupful,  armful  when  but  one  cup,  arm, 
etc.,  is  referred  to. 

EXAMPLES.  —  Work-bag,  work-bags  ;  handful,  handftds. 

The  hyphens  in  the  expression  "  black-and-white 
terrier  "  show  that  the  dog  is  neither  altogether  black 
nor  altogether  white,  but  both  black  and  white. 

Abbreviations  of  the  ordinal  numbers  are  best  written 
in  this  way  :  ist,  2d,  3d,  4th,  etc. 

Capitalization 

A  capital  letter  is  used  for  the  first  word  of  a  sen- 
tence ;  for  the  first  word  of  each  line  of  poetry ;  for  the 
pronoun  /  and  the  word  O;  for  the  first  word  of  a 
direct  quotation  introduced  as  such ;  for  a  name  of 
the  Deity  and  for  personal  pronouns  referring  to 
Him ;  for  Bible  used  in  the  sense  of  the  Bible,  not  a 
bible ;  for  a  proper  noun  or  adjective  ;  for  a  day  of 
the  week  ;  for  a  month  of  the  year  (but  not  for  the 
seasons);  for  a  personal  title  used  with  the  name  of 
the  person  to  whom  it  is  applied ;  for  the  names  of 
organizations. 

To  a  degree,  a  writer  must  depend  upon  his  judgment 
in  capitalizing  the  title  of  his  composition.  By  means 
of  capitals,  attention  should  be  drawn  to  the  most  signifi- 
cant words.  This  is,  howeverj  a  good  general  rule : 
Capitalize  all  words  in  the  title  of  a  composition  except 
articles,  particles  (prepositions  and  conjunctions),  the 
demonstratives  this,  tJiat,  J/iese,  those,  auxiliary  verbs, 


PUNCTUATION  53 

the  relative  pronouns,  and   personal  pronouns    in   the 
possessive  case.1 

The  words,  north,  south,  east,  west,  begin  with  capitals  when  to 

capitalize 

when  they  denote  locality  ;  with  small  letters  when  they  north, 

,.  .     .         <•  , ,  south,  east, 

denote  direction,  or  points  of  the  compass.  and  west 

EXERCISES 

I.  Why  is  no  comma  used  after  beautiful  in  the  sentence, 
"The  general  rode  a  beautiful  white  horse  "? 

II.  Should  commas  be  inserted  before  the  dashes  in  i  ?  in 
2  ?     Give  reasons  for  your  answers. 

1.  Then,  whispering  one  to  another  that  it  was  late  —  that  the 
moon  was  almost  down  —  that  the  August  night  was  growing  chill 

—  they  hurried  homewards. 

2.  Early  the  next  morning  he  climbed  to  the  roof  of  the  house 

—  that  was  not  forbidden  — and  beheld  his  friend. 

[Should  a  comma  be  used  after  the  parenthesis  in  3?  in  4?    Give 
reasons  for  your  answers.] 

3.  She  left  them  kneeling  here,  said  they,  went  towards  the  peach 
garden,  stayed  by  a  certain  tree  (which  they  pointed  out)  plucked  a 
peach  from  the  very  top  of  it,  then  walked  over  the  brow  of  the  hill. 

4.  His  eyes  glowed  (I  say  literally  glowed)  when  he  spoke  with 
feeling  or  interest. 

III.  Write  the  nominative  plural  and  the  possessive  singu- 
lar of  each  of  the  following  words  :  — 

child  mosquito  leaf 

woman  sheep  church 

IV.  Write  the  plural  of  each  of  the  following  compound 
words :  — 

mother-in-law  lady's-slipper  looking-glass  lap-joint 

mind-reader  spoonful  ring-bolt  shovelful 

1  Espenshade's     "  Composition     and     Rhetoric,"     pages     334,    335. 
(D.  C.  Heath  &  Company.) 


54  PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 

V.  (See  page  51.)     Correct  the  following  sentences  :  — 

1.  We  came  to  an  oak,  whose  great  boughs  sheltered  us  from  the 
storm. 

2.  The  grain  was  piled  to  the  wagon's  top. 

VI.  Why  do  north,  south,  east,  and  west  begin  with  capitals 
in  i  ?     Why  do  they  begin  with  small  letters  in  2  ? 

1.  The  North,  the  South,  the  East,  and  the  West  sent  relief  to 
the  sufferers. 

2.  He  looked  toward  the  north,  the  south,  the  east,  and  the 
west,  but  saw  no  reinforcements. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DESCRIPTION:    POINT    OF    VIEW,    SCALE,    SELECTION 
AND  ARRANGEMENT  OF  DETAILS 

IF   one   recalls   a   novel,  drama,  or   narrative    poem  Definition 

.  .of  describe 

among  the  classics,  one  realizes  that,  aside  from  its 
story,  the  work  gives  pleasure  because  of  its  descrip- 
tions. To  describe  is  to  portray  in  language. 

Benjamin  Ide  Wheeler  says,  "  Language  is  art's l  most  Language 

,  ,        ...  ,        ,,         A  .  .          as  a  means 

supple,  most  familiar  clay.  A  painter  attempting  Ofexpres- 
adequately  to  illustrate  any  but  the  simplest  and  briefest  8 
piece  of  literature  would  need  a  lifetime  in  which  to  do 
it.  How  long  would  it  take  him  to  paint  "  the  deluge 
of  summer  "  referred  to  in  "  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal"  ?2 
All  the  glisten,  the  stir,  the  groping  upward  of  grass 
and  flowers,  the  thrilling  flush  of  life,  the  green  of 
the  meadow,. the  gold  of  the  sun,  home-giving  leaf  and 
blade  and  bough,  warm  shade,  clear  skies,  drifting 
clouds,  —  anything  and  everything  that  the  fulness  of 
summer  has  come  to  mean  for  us,  —  would  no  more 
than  represent  that  one  expression,  "  deluge  of  sum- 
mer." Moreover,  it  would  be  impossible  to  illustrate 

1  The  word  art  here  represents  the  artist  himself,  therefore  the  posses- 
sive form  arfs  is  correct.     See  page  51. 

2  Part  I,  Prelude. 

55 


56  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

the   manner   in  which    Christ's    words    fell    from    his 
lips :  — 

His  words  were  shed  softer  than  leaves  from  the  pine. 

Sculptor,  painter,  musician,  cannot  express  more  with 
their   materials   than   the    honest,    patient,    and   gifted 
writer  can  express  with  his. 
choose  Those  who  describe  in  language  trust  a  good  deal  to 

character-        .  .  ,       . 

istic details  the  imagination  of  others.      A  picture  made  by  the  sun 
—  a  photograph  —  reproduces  an  object  line  for  line; 
a   writer's   description  will  contain   only  what  is  most 
characteristic  of   that  which  is  described,  —  what,  per- 
haps, distinguishes  it  from  others  of  its  kind.     After, 
an  author  has  furnished  its  characteristic  features,  he 
may  safely  trust  the  rest  of  his  picture  to  the  reader's 
select          imagination.     In  describing,  it  is  important  to  choose 
wisely         details  wisely  and  to  select  such  words   as  will  accu- 
rately and  vividly  convey  one's  meaning. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  I  found  it  [the  pillar]  to  be  a  spout  marching  directly  with  the 
wind :  and  I  can  think  of  nothing  I  can  compare  it  to  better  than 
the   trunk  of  an  elephant,  which   it   resembled.  ...     It  was   ex- 
tended to  a  great  length,  and  swept  the  ground  as  it  went,  leaving 
a  mark  behind.  DANIEL  DEFOE:  "  The  Storm." 

II.  [The  following  characteristic  sounds  —  "voices  of  the  wild 
things  of  the  prairie  "  —  are  enumerated  as  a  contrast  to  the  domestic 
sounds  and  the  rustling  of  trees  and  grass  likely  to  be  heard  in 
other  places.] 

The  whistle  of  gophers,  the  faint  wailing,  fluttering  cry  of  the  fall- 

1  Chapter  v  of  Philip  Gilbert  Hamerton's  "Thoughts  on  Art  "  considers 
this  subject  in  an  interesting  way. 


DESCRIPTION  57 

ing  plover  the  whir  of  the  swift-winged  prairie  pigeon,  or  the  quack 
of  a  lonely  duck  came  through  the  shimmering  air. 

HAMLIN  GARLAND:  " A  Dakota  Prairie." 

III.  Elaine  Goodale  writes  of  the  columbine 

"  Skirting  the  rocks  of  the  forest  edge 
With  a  running  flame  from  ledge  to  ledge." 

IV.  He  was  dressed  in  a  canvas  jacket,  and  a  pair  of  such  very 
stiff  trousers  that  they  would  have  stood  quite  as  well  alone  without 
any  legs  in  them.     And  you  couldn't  so  properly  have  said  he  wore 
a  hat,  as  that  he  was  covered  in  a-top,  like  an  old  building,  w,ith 
something  pitchy.  CHARLES  DICKENS:  "  David  Copperfield." 

V.  He  sits  on  a  branch  of  yon  blossoming  bush, 
This  madcap  cousin  of  robin  and  thrush, 

And  sings  without  ceasing  the  whole  morning  long ; 

Now  wild,  now  tender,  the  wayward  song 

That  flows  from  his  soft,  gray,  fluttering  throat ; 

But  often  he  stops  in  his  sweetest  note, 

And  shaking  a  flower  from  the  blossoming  bough, 

Drawls  out,  "  Mi-eu,  mi-ow ! " 

EDITH  M.  THOMAS:  "The  Cat-Bird." 

VI.  Prepared  as  he  was  to  see  an  inauspicious  and  ill-looking 
person,  the  ugliness  of  Anthony  Foster  considerably  exceeded  what 
Tressilian  had  anticipated.     He  was  of  middle  stature,  built  strongly, 
but  so  clumsily  as  to  border  on  deformity,  and  to  give  all  his  motions 
the   ungainly  awkwardness  of  a  left-legged  and  left-handed  man. 
His  hair  .  .   .  escaped   in   sable    negligence   from    under  a  furred 
bonnet,  and  hung  in  elf-locks,  which  seemed  strangers  to  the  comb, 
over  his  rugged  brows  and  around  his  very  singular  and  unprepos- 
sessing countenance.     His  keen  dark  eyes  were  deep  set  beneath 
broad  and  shaggy  eyebrows,  and,  as  they  were  usually  bent  on  the 
ground,  seemed  as  if  they  were  themselves  ashamed  of  the  expression 
natural  to  them,  and  were  desirous  to  conceal  it  from  the  observa- 
tion of  men.  .  .  .     The  features  which   corresponded  with  these 
eyes  and  this  form  were  irregular  and  marked,  so  as  to  be  indelibly 
fixed  on  the  mind  of  him  who  had  once  seen  them.   .  He  raised 


58  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

his  eyes  as  he  entered  the  room  and  fixed  a  keenly  penetrating 
glance  upon  his  two  visitors,  then  cast  them  down,  as  if  counting  his 
steps,  while  he  advanced  slowly  into  the  middle  of  the  room. 

—  SIR  WALTER  SCOTT  :  "  Kenilworth." 

[Note  in  VI  the  method  of  development,  the  enumeration  of  the 
causes  of  the  man's  ugliness.] 

EXERCISES 
I.   Suggest  other  characteristic  details  for  i,  2,  3. 

1 .  Details  that  might  be  useful  in  describing  a  coming  storm  :  — 
Cold  wind ;  huddled  cattle ;  blackening  air ;  the  white  under  side 

of  fluttering  poplar  leaves  ;  intense  stillness  ;  abandoned  plough  ; 
flight  for  shelter;  perhaps  a  little  girl  darting  from  the  house  to 
rescue  a  doll. 

2.  Material  for  a  description  of  a  very  cold  day :  — 

The  color  of  the  atmosphere  is  like  gray  steel ;  the  sun  seems 
farther  off  than  usual,  although  it  does  not  lack  brightness ;  the 
ground  is  as  hard  as  a  brick  pavement  and  everything  snaps  and 
cracks  at  the  least  touch ;  the  breath  from  our  nostrils  shoots  out 
upon  the  frosty  air  like  the  puffs  of  a  locomotive,  but  without  so 
much  noise  ;  the  gate  squeaks  and  our  shoes  create  a  good  deal  of 
friction  on  the  board  stoop. 

3.  Details  that  might  be  utilized  in  the  description  of  a  midsum- 
mer day :  — 

Unclouded  sun,  not  a  flutter  among  the  leaves,  the  sharp  z-z-z 
of  the  cicada,  the  slow  passing  of  an  occasional  team,  Rover  lying 
in  a  trough  of  water,  birds  with  open  bills  and  drooping  wings,  a 
barefooted  girl  with  pail. 

II.  Make  a  list  of  characteristic  details  for  a  descriptive 
paragraph  on  one  of  the  following  subjects  :  — 

1.  A  Morning  in  April. 

2.  A  Person  of  Interest  to  Me. 

3.  Just  after  the  Commencement  Reception. 


DESCRIPTION  59 

In  describing  an  object,  as  in  painting  it,  one  must  The  point 
have  a  point  of  view.     The  writer,  however,  may  move  it  may 
from  time  to  time,  provided  he  takes  his  reader  along  c 
with  him,  or  he  may  depict  a  changing  scene. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Come  then,  worthy  reader  and  comrade,  follow  my  footsteps 
into  this  vestibule,  ornamented  with  rich  tracery,  which  opens  into 
the  Hall  of  Ambassadors.     We  will  not  enter  the  hall,  however,  but 
turn  to  this  small  door  opening  into  the  wall.     Have  a  care  !  here 
are  steep  winding  steps  and  but  scanty  light ;  yet  up  this  narrow, 
obscure,  and  spiral  staircase,  the  proud  monarchs  of  Granada  and 
their  queens  have  often  ascended  to  the  battlements  to  watch  the 
approach  of  invading  armies. 

At  length  we  have  reached  the  terraced  roof,  and  may  take  breath 
for  a  moment,  while  we  cast  a  general  eye  over  the  splendid  pano- 
rama of  city  and  country ;  of  rocky  mountain,  verdant  valley,  and 
fertile  plain,  of  castle,  cathedral,  Moorish  towers,  and  Gothic  domes, 
crumbling  ruins,  and  blooming  groves. 

WASHINGTON  IRVING:  " The  Alhambra." 

II.  James  Russell  Lowell's  "  Summer  Storm"  illustrates  how  a 
scene  may  change  as  the  minutes  go  by ;  the  poem  depicts  the  be- 
ginning, progress,  and  ending  of  a  storm,  and  is  a  panorama  rather 
than  a  single  description.     In  the  opening  description  the  air  is  still, 

"On  the  wide  marsh  the  purple-blossomed  grasses 
Soak  up  the  sunshine ;  sleeps  the  brimming  tide," 

but  a  great  cloud  climbs  up  the  west  and 

"  Suddenly  all  the  sky  is  hid 

As  with  the  shutting  of  a  lid, 
One  by  one  great  drops  are  falling 

Doubtful  and  slow, 

Down  the  pane  they  are  crookedly  crawling, 
And  the  wind  breathes  low." 


6o 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Then 

"  Leaps  the  wind  on  the  sleepy  marsh, 

And  tramples  the  grass  with  terrified  feet, 
The  startled  river  turns  leaden  and  harsh, 
You  can  hear  the  quick  heart  of  the  tempest  beat." 

The  height   of  the  storm,  the  final  outburst,  and  the  succeeding 
"  total  lull "  are  the  concluding  descriptions  of  the  series. 


Scale  of 
descrip- 
tion ;  how  appear  in  a  description. 

affected 


Give  com- 
prehensive 
view  first 


The  point  of  view  affects  the  size  of  objects  as  they 
One  may  look  at  a  house,  for 

example,  from   a  hill,  or  from  the  avenue  that   leads 
to  it.      In  the  first  case  the  h'ouse  will  seem  smaller 
than  in  the  second,  and  fewer  details  will  be  observable. 
The  opening  sentences  of  "Sights  from  a  Steeple"1 
thus  announces  the  point  of  view :  — 

So!  I  have  climbed  high,  and  my  reward  is  small.  Here  I 
stand,  with  wearied  knees,  earth,  indeed,  at  a  dizzy  depth  below,  but 
heaven  far,  far  beyond  me  still. 

To  account  for  the  fact  that  objects  on  the  street  be- 
low are  described  as  of  life  size,  Hawthorne  is  careful 
to  state  that  the  observer  looks  through  a  pocket  spy- 
glass. 

It  is  often  desirable  to  give,  first,  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  entire  object  and  then  proceed  to  the  con- 
sideration of  its  details.  The  last  sentence  of  I,  page  59, 
represents  such  a  view.  The  method  of  first  attending 
to  the  scene  as  a  whole  is  familiar  to  every  one  who  has 
looked  upon  an  extensive  landscape ;  for,  when  he  first 
saw  it,  his  eye  naturally  swept  in  the  entire  view,  and 


1  "Twice-Told  Tales." 


DESCRIPTION  6 1 

afterward  singled  out,  and  more  carefully  observed,  its 
details. 

The  details  chosen  need  arrangement.     If  one  were  Methods  of 
describing  a  room,  details  might  be  grouped  according  ment 
to  their  situation,  those  in  the  same  corner,  for  instance, 
being  grouped  together;  or  according  to  the  impression 
made,  those  having  an  enlivening  influence  and  those 
detracting  from  the  general  cheerfulness  of  the  place 
forming  separate  groups ;  or  according  to  their  effect. 

[The  statements  made  in  the  two  preceding  paragraphs  suggest 
methods  of  paragraph  development  in  descriptions.] 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  The  second  paragraph  of  "  Sights  from  a  Steeple  "  thus  groups 
details :  — 

In  three  parts  of  the  visible  circle,  I  discern  cultivated  fields, 
villages,  white  country  seats,  the  waving  lines  of  rivulets,  little  placid 
lakes,  and  here  and  there  a  rising  ground,  that  would  fain  be 
termed  a  hill.  On  the  fourth  side  is  the  sea,  stretching  away  toward 
a  viewless  boundary,  blue  and  calm,  except  where  the  passing  anger 
of  a  shadow  flits  across  its  surface,  and  is  gone.  Hithervvard  a  broad 
inlet  penetrates  far  into  the  land  ;  on  the  verge  of  the  harbor,  formed 
by  its  extremity,  is  a  town ;  and  over  it  am  I,  a  watchman,  all  un- 
heeding and  unheeded. 

In  the  first  sentence  of  II  and  the  first  sentence  of  III  a  more  or 
less  comprehensive  view  is  taken ;  in  the  succeeding  sentences  a  few 
details  are  given  and  are  grouped  in  a  somewhat  orderly  way. 

II.  The  old  mansion  was  a  low,  venerable  building,  occupying  a 
considerable  space  of  ground,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  deep  moat. 
The  approach  and  drawbridge  were  defended  by  an  octagonal  tower 
of  ancient  brickwork,  but  so  clothed  with  ivy  and  other  creepers  that 
it  was  difficult  to  discover  of  what  materials  it  was  constructed. 
The  angles  of  this  tower  were  each  decorated  with  a  turret.   .  .  . 
One  of  these  turrets  was  square  and  occupied  as  a  clock-house. 

SIR  WALTER  SCOTT:  "  Kenilworth." 


62 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


III.  It  was   beautifully  clean   inside,  and  as   tidy  as   possible. 
There  was  a  table,  and  a  Dutch  clock,  and  a  chest  of  drawers,  and 
on  the  chest  of  drawers  there  was  a  tea-tray.  .  .  .     The  tray  was 
kept  from  tumbling  down  by  a  Bible  ;  and  the  tray,  if  it  had  tumbled 
down,  would  have  smashed  a  quantity  of  cups  and  saucers  and  a  tea- 
pot that  were  grouped  around  the  book.     On  the  walls  there  were 
some  common  colored  pictures.  .  .  .     Over  the  little  mantel-shelf 
was  a  picture  of  the  Sarah  Jane  lugger,  .  .  .  with  a  real  little  wooden 
stern  stuck  on  it.  .  .  .     There  were  some  books  in  the  beams  of  the 
ceiling  .  .  .  and  some  lockers  and  boxes  and  conveniencies  of 
that  sort,  which  served  for  seats. 

CHARLES  DICKENS  :  "  David  Copperfield." 

IV.  Each  of  the  following  narrative  paragraphs  contains  inci- 
dental description ;  it  not  only  tells  what  happened  but  also  makes  a 
picture :  — 

1 .  Then  they  came  forward  to  the  bow  .  .   .  and  informed  them- 
selves of  the  names  of  each  of  the  fortressed  islands  as  the)'  passed. 
.  .  .    They  made  sure  of  the  air  of  soft  repose  that  hung  about  each, 
of  that  exquisite  military  neatness  which  distinguishes  them,  of  the 
green,  thick  turf  covering  the  escarpments,  of  the  great  guns  loafing 
on  the  crests  of  the  ramparts  and  looking  out  over  the  water  sleepily, 
of  the  sentries   pacing   slowly  up  and  down  with   their  gleaming 
muskets.  WILLIAM  DEAN  HOWELLS  :  "  A  Day's  Pleasure." 

2.  At  a  particularly  bad  spot,  where  a  ledge  of  barely  submerged 
rocks  jutted  out  into  the  river,  Hans  cast  off  the  rope,  and,  while 
Thornton  poled  the  boat  out  into  the  stream,  ran  down  the  bank 
with  the  end  in  his  hand  to  snub  the  boat  when  it  had  cleared  the 
ledge.     This  it  did,  and  was  flying  down-stream  in  a  current  as  swift 
as  a  mill-race,  when  Hans  checked  it  with  the  rope  and  checked  too 
suddenly.     The  boat  flirted  over  and  snubbed  in  to  the  bank  bottom 
up,  while  Thornton,  flung  sheer  out  of  it,  was  carried  down-stream 
toward  the  worst  part  of  the  rapids,  a  stretch  of  wild  water  in  which 
no  swimmer  could  live.      From  below  came  the  fatal  roaring  where 
the  wild  current  went  wilder  and  was  sent  in  shreds  and  spray  by  the 
rocks  which  thrust  through  like  the  teeth  of  an  enormous  comb. 

JACK  LONDON:  "The  Call  of  the  Wild." 


DESCRIPTION  63 

In  description,  as  in  other  kinds  of  composition,  the  character 

of  a 

character  of   the  work  is  determined   by  its  purpose,  description 

For  example,  one  might  write  about  a  neglected  child  byits  in 

so  as  to  arouse  horror,  or  pity,  or  a  desire  actively  to  pur 
relieve  its  needs. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Consider  the  following  work  with  reference  to  descrip- 
tion :  — 

1 .  (An  attempt  has  been  made  to  describe  part  of  a  narrow  creek, 
with  its  animal  life.     The  point  of  view  is  very  near  the  creek.) 

A  grasshopper  floats  slowly  past  on  a  birch  leaf,  and  the  muddy 
water  seems  alive  with  pollywogs,  which  wriggle  up  and  down  like 
so  many  elevators.  Whenever  one  of  them  comes  to  the  surface  a 
big  old  frog  perched  on  a  lily-pad  not  far  away  says,  with  a  grunt, 
"  Going  down  ! "  A  mud-turtle  sticks  its  little  black  head  up  and 
takes  a  view  of  the  world,  only  to  sink  back  out  of  sight  as  an  ugly 
water-snake  glides  past  and  disappears  in  the  mass  of  reeds  opposite. 
I  involuntarily  start  when  a  kingfisher  dives  with  a  splash  and  then 
rises  with  a  poor  little  minnow  in  its  claws  and  flies  away  to  feed  its 
family  on  the  tidbit.  Then  all  is  dead  silence  as  before,  except  for 
an  occasional  splash  as  a  mud-turtle  falls  off  its  log.  The  stillness 
seems  only  intensified  by  these  few  sudden  sounds  that  break  in  on 
the  quiet. 

[Would  you  omit  the  first  little  ?    Give  a  reason  for  your  answer.] 

2.  (The  point  of  view  is  the  doorway.) 

I  stepped  to  the  doorway  and  glanced  into  a  large  room  that  lay 
at  right  angles  to  the  hall  I  had  just  left.  I  was  silent,  for  some- 
thing seemed  to  tell  me  that  here  a  tragedy  had  been  enacted :  the 
air  was  musty,  as  if  the  room  had  been  shut  up  for  a  long  time ;  the 
old  oak  furnishings  looked  gloomy  and  forbidding ;  the  bed-curtains, 
of  a  faded  red,  seemed  to  quiver  and  sway,  as  if  inviting  me  to  enter, 
to  draw  them  and  see  what  awful  secret  they  guarded ;  on  a  table  at 
my  left,  I  could  faintly  discover  a  large  gold  locket  covered  with  dust. 
The  one  beam  of  sunlight  that  entered  the  door  glittered  on  some- 


64  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

thing  in  a  distant  corner ;    it  looked  like  a  bright  eye  glaring  at  me, 
and  I  longed  to  enter  and  see  what  it  really  was,  but  I  dared  not. 

[Is  really  the  proper  word  here  ?  Find  the  exact  meaning  of 
•really.  Account  for  the  punctuation  of  the  second  sentence.] 

3.    (A  description  given  incidentally.) 

"To  be  sure  there  is  nothing  attractive  about  the  house.  There 
are  no  shade  trees  to  be  found,  no  vines  over  the  porch,  and  the 
paint  is  of  a  dull  grayish  color.  It  really  is  not  a  very  interesting 
house,  as  you  say.  But.  George,  look  there !  Where  do  you  find 
a  watermelon  patch  like  that  ?  Think  of  the  days  and  weeks  of 
labor  represented  there,  and  look  at  this  fence.  It  is  plain  to  be 
sure,  but  it  is  a  good  substantial  one ;  answers  the  purpose  better 
than  any  of  your  flimsy  ones. 

"  Now  we'll  take  a  peep  at  the  inside.  My  !  but  it's  clean,  isn't 
it  ?  If  my  grandmother  were  here,  I  think  she  would  say  she  would 
just  as  soon  eat  from  the  floor  as  she  would  from  the  table,  a  remark 
she  used  to  make  after  she  had  finished  cleaning  on  Saturdays.  In 
all  probability,  five  minutes  later,  we  boys  would  be  relieving  our 
shoes  of  their  burden  of  mud  on  her  floor,  to  grandmother's  dismay. 
These  folks  must  be  mighty  neat  and  thrifty  people ;  not  the  sort 
that  spend  their  last  cent  for  trinkets  and  clothes  just  to  keep  up 
appearances. 

"  Well,  here  comes  my  train  ;  I  hear  the  whistle  up  at  the  turn- 
pike. I  shall  have  to  run  to  get  it.  Remember  me  to  the  folks, 
and  tell  them  I'll  be  on  hand  next  week  for  that  grand  watermelon 
carnival." 

[Refer  to  the  first  paragraph  of  3.  Is  really,  in  the  third 
sentence,  the  proper  word?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

Refer  to  the  second  paragraph  of  3.  How  might  the  excessive 
use  of  she  in  the  third  sentence  be  avoided  ?  Does  the  third 
sentence  violate  unity?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer.  Sub- 
stitute a  simpler  and  more  direct  expression  for  relieving  our 
shoes  of  their  burden  of  mud.  Why  should  not  mighty  as  a 
modifier  of  neat  be  criticised  ?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

Refer  to  the  third  paragraph.     Why  should  not  the  use  of 


DESCRIPTION  65 

the  colloquial  expression  the  folks  be  criticised  ?  Is  it,  in  the 
second  sentence,  sufficiently  definite  in  its  reference?  Why 
should  not  grand  as  a  modifier  of  watermelon  be  criticised  ? 
Give  reasons  for  your  last  two  answers. 

Quotation-marks  for  the  successive  paragraphs  of  3  are  used 
correctly,  at  the  beginning  of  each  paragraph,  but  at  the  end  of 
only  the  last.] 

NOTE.  —  The  use  of  "  the  ones  "  as  an  antecedent,  or  of  "  the 
one,"  when  a  pronoun  Will  express  the  meaning,  is  not  sanctioned. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  "  This  book  is  the  one  that  I  thought  of  buying  "* 
should  be  written,  "This  is  the  book  that  I  thought  of  buying.1' 

II.  "These  gloves  are  the  ones  you  were  looking  for"  should  be 
changed  to  some  such  expression  as,  "  These  are  the  gloves  you 
were  looking  for." 

Why  should  not  the  use  of  ones  in  the  last  sentence  of  the  first 
paragraph  of  3  be  criticised  ? 

II.    Write  a  descriptive  paragraph;  use  one  of  the  following  state  to 
topics.     First,  be  sure  of  your  purpose.     If  writing  of  i,  do   yo^Sp"r. 
you  wish  to  gain  an  appropriation  for  the  enlargement  or  grad-   pose 
ing  of  the  school  yard  ?     Do  you  wish  the  reader  to  enjoy  a 
game?     Second,  choose  your  point  of  view ;   this  will  deter-    choose  a 
mine  the  apparent  size  of  the  objects  described.     Are  you  at   yiew° 
the  gate  or  on  the  encircling  wall?    Third,  remember  that  in  de- 
scription the  development  of  the  paragraph  is  often  by  means   Group  de- 
of  details,  and  decide  to  group  details  with  reference  to  locality,   tails 
to  effect,  or  to  anything  else  that  may  become  a  guide  to 
arrangement.      Fourth,  use   only  characteristic   details ;   your   use  charac 
purpose  will  help  you  to  decide  what  details  are  characteristic.   ^^ 
Write  of  things  as  they  actually  are.    Remember  that  a  descrip- 
tion may  be  interesting,  but  must  be  accurate. 

1 .  The  school  yard. 

2.  An  hour  at  the  Zoo. 


66  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

3.  The  captain  on  whose  ship  I  like  to  sail. 

4.  The  ledges. 

5.  Our  amateur  fireworks. 

6.  The  worn-out  boat. 

7.  A  place  where  ferns  grow. 

8.  Where  I  like  to  fish. 

9.  My  work-bench. 

10.  On  the  mountain  top. 

1 1 .  The  clam  digger. 

12.  What  I  found. 

13.  A  bird  I  often  watch. 

A  definite  Make  the  subject  that  you  choose  definite,  in  accordance 
w^tn  y°ur  own  exPerience  ;  name  the  mountain,  designate  the 
ledges,  the  part  of  the  Zoo  visited,  some  feature  of  the  fire- 
works, the  place  where  the  object  alluded  to  in  12  was  found. 
A  definite  subject  is  likely  to  lead  to  definite  work. 


CHAPTER   VII 

ANSWERS   TO   PUPILS1    INQUIRIES  —  III 
The  Proper  Use  of  Some  Words  and  Clauses 

Oh  is  an  exclamation;  O  is  followed  by  the  name  of 
some  thing  or  person  addressed.  One  would  write,  for 
example,  "  Oh,  what  a  dark,  ugly  place  !  "  and,  — 

"  O  earth,  thou  hast  not  any  wind  that  blows  which  is  not  music." 

In  is  used  to  denote  rest ;  into,  to  denote  motion.    One  /«  and  into 
steps  into  the  house.     Pictures  hang  on  the  walls  in  the 
house. 

Hence,  whence,  hither,  thither,  whither,  are  adverbs  of  Adverbs  of 
motion  ;  here,  there,  where  (adverbs  of  rest)  are  not  their  motion 
equivalents. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  Who  knows  whither  the  clouds  have  fled  ? 
II.   Whence  came  he  ? 

FartJier  has  reference  to  distance  ;  further,  to  quantity  farther  and 
or  degree.     One  travels  farther,  but  studies  further. 

Like  is  used  as  an  adjective  or  adverb  with  to  un-  The  proper 

...        ,,  r  useof//*e 

derstood,  not  as  a  conjunction  in  the  sense  of  as. 
11  He  is  like  (to)  me "  and  "  He  struggled  like  (to)  a 
madman  "  are  correct.  "  He  does  like  (as)  I  do  "  is  in- 
correct. 

67 


68  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

can  and  Strictly  speaking,  can   denotes    power  or  capability, 

may  .,  ... 

while  may  denotes  possibility  or  permission. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.    He  may  do  it,  if  you  think  it  best  that  he  should. 

II.  He  can  do  it,  for  he  has  great  strength. 

III.  He  can  see;  his  eyesight  is  good. 

IV.  He  may  see  us  if  he  turns  round. 

Sit,  set,  He,        Set,    lay,    and    raise    are   transitive   verbs   and   take 

lay,  rise,  .        .  .  .   .  ,      , 

raise  objects ;  ,sit,  he,   and   rise  are  intransitive  and  do  not 

have  objects. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.   One  sits  down,  but  sets  dishes  down. 

II.  He  lays  the  book  aside  and  lies  down. 

III.  She  rises  from  her  chair  and  raises  the  jar  from  the  shelf. 

"  He  lay  down  "  is  correct,  because  lay  in  this  case  is 
not  a  part  of  the  verb  "to  lay,"  but  is  the  past  of 
"to  lie." 

In  reading,  one  occasionally  comes  across  an  expres- 
sion1 like"!  sit  me  down."  The  expression — though 
not  suitable  in  everyday  speech — is  correct,  because 
the  pronoun  following  the  verb  is  reflexive  merely. 

A  misuse  of  In  the  sentence,  "His  employer  is  to  try  and  soften 
the  man's  anger,"  "to"  should  be  substituted  for  and,  be- 
cause the  employer  is  to  do  one  thing  (try  to  soften  the 
man's  anger),  not  to  do  two  different  things  —  not  to 
try  and  to  soften.  One  often  hears  the  expression,  "  I 
will  come  and  see  you,"  when  the  speaker  means,  "  I 
will  come  to  see  you." 

A  misuse  of       In  the  following  sentence,  the  adjective  "safe"  modi- 

the  adverb 

fymg  they  should  be  substituted  for  the  adverb  safely 
modifying  are :  "  In  a  moment  more  they  are  safely  on 


SOME   MISUSED   WORDS  69 

the  ground."  The  meaning  is,  that  they,  safe,  are  on 
the  ground. 

Transposition  will  show  that  quite  is  not  used  prop-  A  misuse  oi 
erly  in,  "  He  made  quite  a  gift  to  the  library."     "  He  q 
made  a  quite  gift "  brings  to  notice  the  fact  that  quite, 
an  adverb,  has  been  used  to  modify  a  noun.     One  might 
say,  "  He  made  a  considerable  gift,  etc.,"  substituting 
the  adjective  "considerable"  for  the  adverb  quite. 

That  has  no  proper  office  in  the  expression,  "In  the  A  misuse  of 
early  part  of  the  day  that  the  gold  was  returned."     The 
word  is  incorrectly  used.     "  On  which  "  should  be  sub- 
stituted for  that. 

"The  yacht  is  the  same  as  I  saw  yesterday,"  is  in-  A  misuse  of 

as 

correct;  "that"  should  be  substituted  for  as,  since  the 
clause  "  that  (not  as)  I  saw  yesterday  "  —  as  well  as  the 
adjective  same — modifies  the  word  "yacht"  understood. 

If  a  person  is  referred  to  in  a  sentence  as  he,  it  is  use  refer- 

.  1-1  -1  ence  words 

well  not  to  designate  him  by  one  in  the  same  sentence ;  carefully  . 
neither  should  you  be  substituted  for  one  under  similar 
conditions.    The  following  sentence  needs  correction:— 

One  cannot  see  the  chimes  as  he  glances  at  the  steeple. 
"Having  studied  all  day,  I  made  him  lay  aside  his  Avoid  the 

use  of  a 

bqok,     is  not  correctly  constructed,  because  the  intro-  participle 

.    .    .    ,       ,  .  , .  r       _•    for  which 

ductory  participial  phrase  is  not  intended  to  modify  /.  no  principal 
No  principal  is  provided  for  having  studied.     There  are 
several  ways  of  correcting  this  sentence;  for  example  :  — 

1.  Having  studied  all  day,  he  was  made  to  lay  aside  his  book. 
[In  i.  the  phrase  having  studied  correctly  modifies  he.~\ 

2.  After  he  had  studied  all  day,  I  made  him  lay  aside  his  book. 


;0  PRINCIPLES    OF    RHETORIC 

introduc  If  a  participial  phrase  is  used  at  the  beginning  of  a 

tory 

particif 

phrase 


participial    sentence,   its  participle  belongs  to  the   subject   of  the 


sentence. 

A  book  title  It  is  correct  to  say,  "  '  The  Canterbury  Tales  '  was 
written  by  Chaucer,"  because  the  title  as  a  singular 
title,  not  the  word  Tales,  is  the  subject  of  was. 
Thenumber  It  is  correct  to  say,  (i)  "  There  is  a  hundred  pounds 
tiven°ounC  in  the  box,"  or  (2)  "There  is  five  dollars  in  my  pocket- 
book,"  if  the  reference  is  to  the  quantity  in  bulk  or  to 
the  mere  amount ;  but  were  there  in  the  box  a  hundred 
bags  of  sugar,  flour,  or  other  material,  —  each  bag  con- 
taining a  pound,  —  it  would  be  necessary  to  use  a  plural 
verb  in  i.  A  plural  verb  would  be  required  in  2  if 
there  were  five  dollar-bills  or  coins  in  the  pocket-book. 
The  sense  in  which  it  is  used  determines  whether  a 
collective  noun  should  be  treated  as  singular  or  as 
plural. 

Thestngu-  Do  not  consider  a  singular  subject  plural  because 
notaffected  a  modifier  containing  a  plural  noun  comes  between  that 
noun^a*1  subject  and  its  predicate. 

modifier 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  The  sentence  "  He  with  his  generals  sit  in  con- 
ference" is  incorrect.  The  subject  is  he  alone  and  requires  a  singu- 
lar verb.  Were  with  changed  to  and,  the  plural  form  of  the  verb 
would  be  required. 

II.  ''Those  kind  of  trees  are  likely  to  thrive  in  our  soil  "  is  incor- 
rect. For  the  plural  forms  those  and  are  the  singular  that  and  is 
should  be  substituted,  because  the  singular  noun  kind — not  the 
plural  trees  —  is  the  principal  of  that  and  the  subject  of  is.  Cor- 
rectly expressed  the  sentence  becomes  :  4<  That  kind  of  tree  is  likely 
to  thrive  in  our  soil,"  or  "  Trees  of  that  kind  are  likely  to  thrive  in 
our  soil." 


SOME   MISUSED   WORDS  71 

One  may  supply  for  a  sentence  only  what  has  been  suppiyoniy 
expressed  in  it.     For  example,  in  the  sentence  "  And  so  beenex*8 
they  collected  a  good  deal  more  than  they  should,"  there  pre! 
is  no  verb  but  collected.     To  supply  that  verb  for  the 
auxiliary  should  is  obviously  improper.  The  word  "  have," 
or  the  words  "have  collected,"  "  have  gathered,"  or  a  sim- 
ilar expression,  should  round  out  the  quoted  sentence. 

The  comparative  degree  sets  one  thing  over  against  Thecom- 
another;  it  excludes  one  of  the  things  —  or  sets  of  degree^ 
things  —  compared  from  the  other. 

EXAMPLE.  —  Paul   is   stronger    than    any  other  athlete   in  the 
village. 

If  one  should  say,  "  Paul  is  stronger  than  any  athlete 
in  the  village,"  failing  to  exclude  Paul  from  the  group 
of  athletes  with  which  he  is  meant  to  be  compared,  one 
would  declare  him  to  be  stronger  than  himself.     The  The  super- 
superlative   degree,    however,    includes   all   the    things  degree 
compared. 

EXAMPLE.  —  Harold  is  the  tallest  of  the  brothers. 

All  the  boys,  not  excepting  Harold,  are  included  in  the 
group  under  consideration. 

The  restrictive  relative  clause  is  needed  to  make  clear  Restrictive 

relative 

the  identity  of  its  noun,  and  does  not  require  a  comma  clause 
before  it. 

EXAMPLE.  —  The  flowers  that  he  brought  are  in  the  green  bowl. 

Should  one  ask,  "  What  are  in  the  green  bowl  ? "  the 
answer  must  be,  "  The  flowers  that  he  brought."     Such 


Explana- 
tory rela- 
tive 
clause 


72  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

a  relative  clause,  required  to  make  clear  the  identity 
of  its  noun,  is  called  restrictive. 

The  explanatory  relative  clause  gives  some  informa- 
tion about  its  noun. 

EXAMPLE.  —  The  ambassador's  rose-bushes,  which  were  sent  to 
him  from  France,  bear  deep  pink  and  very  fragrant  flowers. 

One  knows  what  rose-bushes  are  meant  without  the 
help  of  the  relative  clause ;  they  are  the  ambassador's. 
This  relative  clause  does  not  restrict  the  meaning  of 
its  noun,  but  explains  it ;  it  gives  the  information  that 
the  rose-bushes  were  sent  from  France  to  the  ambassa- 
dor. Such  a  relative  clause  is  called  explanatory.  It 
should  be  set  off  by  commas. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Supply  in  or  into  as  required  :  — 

1 .  We  went the  florist's  to  learn  the  name  of  a  rare  plant 

his  window. 

2.  The  pictures  are the  next  room. 

3.  The  official  jumped  —  —  the  carriage. 

II.  Substitute   adverbs    of  motion  for  where  from  and  to 
what  place  (see  page  67)  :  — 

He  asked  where  they  came  from  and  to  what  place  they  would  go. 

III.  Supply  parts  of  the  verb  lie  or  lay  as  required  :  — 

1.   your  head  on  this  pillow  when  you down. 

2.  The   dog  —  —  stretched   out  in   front  of  the  fire ; your 

hand  on  his  head. 

IV.  Supply  sit  or  set  as  required  :  — 

1 .  -    —  down  beside  me  ;  -    —  your  parcel  here. 

2.  Did  you  ask  me  to very  still?          —  me  the  example. 


SOME   MISUSED   WORDS  73 

V.  Supply  parts  of  the  verb  raise  or  rise  as  required  :  — 
i.   -    —  the  curtain  and  see  whether  the  sun  is . 

2. quickly ;  now  —  —  your  eyes  and  tell  me  what  you  see. 

VI.  Supply  like  or  as  as  required  (see  page  67)  :  — 

1.  His  handwriting  is  —  —  his  brother's. 

2.  She  sings a  bird  sings. 

VII.  Correct  the  following  sentence  (see  page  69)  :  — 
The  night  that  we  started,  the  fire  broke  out. 

VIII.  Supply  as  or  that  as  required  :  — 

This  is  the  same  engraving I  saw  at  the  first  exhibition. 

IX.  Correct  the  following  sentence  (see  page  69)  :  — 

If  one  will  be  careful,  he  can  cross  the  ropelike  bridge  in  safety ; 
but  if  you  make  one  false  step,  down  one  goes. 

X.  Supply  is  or  are  as  required  :  — 

"  Gulliver's  Travels  " written  by  Dean  Swift. 

XL  Correct  the  following  sentences  (see  pages  69, 70, 71)  :  — 

1.  Having  heard  him  singing,  his  voice  was  recognized. 

2.  Failing   six   times,    I    excused   him   from  making  a   seventh 
attempt. 

3.  The  teacher  wich  the  entire  class  are  going  to  the  play. 

4.  Those  kind  of  fish  are  from  the  Columbia  River. 

5.  This  box  contains  as  much  as  your  two. 

6.  Flies  are  as  troublesome  as  the  mosquito. 

7.  He  is  older  than  any  man  in  his  town. 

8.  This  flower  is  sweeter  than  ;.ny. 

XII.   Supply  the  relative  as   lequired,   and    punctuate   the 
sentences : — 

1.  The  boy  —  —  ran  past  the  window  a  minute  ago  has  fallen. 

2.  Ned ran  past  the  window  has  fallen. 

3.  He wins  may  laugh. 

4.  Your  guest  —  —  has  won  again  may  laugh. 


CHAPTER   VIII 


Know 
words 


Choose 
words 

wisely 


Use  words 
with  exact- 
ness 


Use  repu- 
table words 


DICTION:    THE   CHOICE    OF   WORDS 
Precision  and  Good  Use 

ENOUGH  has  already  been  done  with  description  to 
make  one  sure  that  composition  demands,  with  refer- 
ence to  words :  a  rich  vocabulary,  exact  knowledge  of 
meanings,  and  a  sense  of  fitness ;  it  demands,  in  short, 
many  words  and  considerable  knowledge  about  them. 

In  order  that  a  sentence  may  carry  the  thought,  not 
merely  a  thought,  each  of  its  words  must  be  wisely  chosen. 

Precision 

A  word  should  express  neither  more  nor  less  than  is 
.  required.  One  may  not  take  words  from  one's  vocabu- 
lary haphazard.  There  is  a  difference,  for  example, 
between  mountain  and  hill,  between  hill  and  knoll,  be- 
tween robber  and  kidnapper.  Rhetoricians  call  this 
carefulness  regarding  the  exact  use  of  words  Precision 

or  Exactness. 

Good  Use 

But  something  more  than  precision  of  language  is  nec- 
essary ;  words  should  belong  to  the  reputable  accepted 
vocabulary  of  the  day.  Therefore  :  — 

74 


DICTION  75 

I.  Slang  is  to  be  avoided.  Avoid  slang 

II.  Provincialisms  —  expressions  peculiar  to  a  local-  Avoid  pro- 

vincialisms 
ity  —  are   excluded   from   the   vocabulary    of   the   best 

authors,  unless  such  expressions  are  used  to  represent 
the  conversation  of  provincial  people,  or  for  some  other 
equally  legitimate  purpose. 

III.  Technical  words  are  employed  only  when  they   Avoid  tech 

j     ,        ™.  .,  .  nical  terms 

are  actually  needed.  They  necessarily  occur  m  text- 
books, lectures  to  students,  etc. 

IV.  As  a  rule,  expressions  from  a  foreign  language  Avoid  the 

I'll  T-.  USC  °*  *0r- 

are  not  desirable  ;  not  every  one  understands  them.  But  eign  words 
foreign  expressions  that  have  become  adopted  into  the 
•national  vocabulary  are  not  prohibited ;  one  would  not 
hesitate  to  use  the  word  debutante,  for  example,  because 
it  is  useful  and  is  known  even  to  those  who  are  not 
familiar  with  French. 

V.  For  prose,  do  not  draw  upon  the  poetic  vocabu-  For  prose, 
lary  ;  the  use  of  words  like  save,  erst,  erewJiile,  met/links,  wo°rdsPOe 
begirt,  should  be  avoided. 

VI.  Idiomatic  expressions  —  expressions  so  peculiar  idiomatic 
to  the  language  that  they  cannot  be  satisfactorily  trans-  valuable"18 
lated  into  another  —  are  especially  valued.     It  is  often 
difficult,  or  impossible,  to  account  for  the  construction 

of  idioms.     They  are,  however,  natural  and  forceful. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

1.  Titinius  made  to  him  on  the  spur. 

2.  The  superintendent  called  him  to  account. 

3.  Do  not  take  my  words  amiss. 

4.  1'ay  attention  to  the  lecturer. 


76  PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 

5.  And  now,  methinks,  I  have  a  mind  to  it. 

6.  They  are  bent  upon  doing  it. 

7.  Society  paid  its  court  to  her. 

8.  The  captive  was  put  to  death. 

9.  Will  you  take  a  walk  with  me  ? 

10.  He  was  above  doing  the  necessary  work. 

11.  Hz  is  of  age. 

12.  The  diet  did  not  agree  with  him. 

13.  By  dint  of  ceaseless  labor,  they  succeeded. 

14.  Away  with  you ! 

15.  The  thief  made  ^with  the  basket. 

16.  He  says  that  he  had  as  lief  do  it. 

17.  It  will  go  hard  with  us. 

1 8.  How  did  you  come  by  it  ? 

19.  They  at  once  set  about  it. 

20.  He  could  make  nothing  of  it. 

The  double  possessive  is  idiomatic.     EXAMPLE.  —  He  is  a  friend 
of  Joseph's. 

use  suit-  VII.  Words  should  be  suitable.  Their  fitness  is  to 
be  considered.  The  clothing  of  a  commonplace  thought 
in  superfine  speech  ("fine  writing")  is  offensive.  One 
occasionally  comes  upon  something  of  this  kind  :  "  The 

seek  fitness,  residents  of  the  rural  community  assembled  in  the  edi- 

omamenta  fice  provided  for  municipal  use."  The  thought  in  the 
last  sentence  might  be  fittingly  expressed  thus :  The 
villagers  met  in  the  town  hall. 

worn-out          VIII.    If  a  writer  is  true  to  himself  he  will  think  out 

expressions    .  .  .  ... 

his  own  expressions ;  he  will  not  use  current  expres- 
sions, like  those  italicized  in  I,  2,  and  3,  simply  because 
they  are  at  hand  and  he  is  lazy. 

1.  Weariness  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 

2.  He  rose  in  all  his  grandeur  and  sublimity. 

3.  Success  crowned  his  labors. 


DICTION  77 

The  study  of  etymology,1  —  the  derivation  and  history  A  way  to 

acquire  a 

of  words,  —  even  the  habit  of  looking  in  the  dictionary  vocabulary 
for  the  meaning,  derivation,  and  history  of  words,  will 
help  to  give  one  a  varied   vocabulary  and  knowledge 
that  will  make  it  useful. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  no  superfluous   words  oniyneces 

sary  words 

should  be  tolerated.  Grammar  asks  of  a  modifier,  "Are  are  useful 
you  provided  for  ?  Where  is  the  word  you  modify  ?  " 
Rhetoric  inquires,  "  How  are  you  helping  to  convey  the 
thought  ?  "  Grammar  is  satisfied  if  the  word  may  be 
parsed  ;  rhetoric  casts  it  from  the  sentence  unless  it  is 
useful  as  a  vehicle  for  the  thought. 

EXERCISE 

(Refer  to  the  dictionary.)  Distinguish  between  :  act  and 
action ;  actual  and  real ;  aggravate  and  provoke ;  anxious 
and  eager;  apparent  and  evident;  aware  and  conscious ;  be- 
side and  besides;  betu<een  and  among;  contemptible  and  con- 
temptuous; council  and  counsel;  due  and  owing;  effect  and 
affect;  emigrate  and  immigrate;  exceptional  and  exceptionable; 
flee  and  fly  ;  fttll  and  crowded ;  genuine  and  authentic  ;  home 
and  house  ;  leave  and  depart;  less  and  fewer ;  likely  and  apt; 
likely  and  liable ;  needful  and  needy  ;  observance  and  observa- 
tion ;  oral  and  verbal ' ;  position  and  situation  ;  practicable  and 
practical ;  principle  and  principal ' ;  propose  and  purpose  (the 
verb)  ;  reach  and  arrive ;  relation  and  relative ;  stop  and 
stay;  transpire  and  happen;  vocation  and  avocation  ;  wish  and 
want. 

1  See  "  Words  and  their  Ways,"  by  James  Bradstreet  Greenough  and 
George  Lyman  Kittredge.  (The  Macmillan  Company.) 


78  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

Specific  Words 

In  meeting  the  following  requirements,  do  only  so 
much  as  you  can  accomplish  in  your  best  manner.  One 
sentence  carefully  thought  out  will  be  worth  more  than 
much  hurried,  careless  work. 

EXERCISES 

I.  It  is  easy  to  repeat  such  verbs  as  go,  move,  do,  run,  and 
not  take  pains  to  indicate  more  definite  action.     Choose  spe- 
cific—  definitive  —  words  to  describe  :  — 

1 .  How  a  swallow,  a  hawk,  a  tumbler  pigeon,  an  eagle,  a  kite, 
an  arrow,  went  through  the  air. 

2.  How  a  youth,  an  aged  woman,  a  child,  went  up  a  stairway. 

II.  Note  the   specific  verbs   underlined  in   the    following 
paragraph  :  — 

An  old  man  tottered  along  the  shore,  behind  him  his  little  grand- 
son dug  his  bare  toes  into  the  sand,  and  far  ahead  a  huge  New- 
foundland dog  bounded  through  the  marsh  grass.  Ragged  bits  of 
blackened  seaweed  scampered  elflike  before  the  wind. 

III.  Choose  a  specific  word  to  tell  how  each  of  the  follow- 
ing objects  moved  :  a  mouse,  a  bough,  a  shadow,  a  cloud,  a  cat. 

IV.  Find  specific  verbs  in  the  following  sentences  :  — 

1.  The  swallow  skimmed   swiftly  over  the   grass-tops,  wheeled 
in  an  instant,  and  then  flashed  backward  and  forward  in  flat  graceful 
spirals ;  the  eye  could  hardly  follow  the  sharp  wings  that  whirred 
by. 

2.  The  kite  plunged  and  reared,  and  then  fell  flat  upon  the  ground 
in  a  snarl  of  tail  and  tether ;  but  the  boy  tried  again,  and  his  great 
paper  flyer  caught  the  breeze  and  soared  up,  up  toward  the  sky, 
where  it  floated  and  hung  easily,  as  if  it  had  found  its  element. 


DICTION  79 

V.  Note  the  definiteness  of  the  word  fanned  in  the  follow- 
ing lines  from  William  Cullen  Bryant's  "  To  a  Waterfowl  "  :  — 

"All  day  thy  wings  have  fanned, 
At  that  far  height,  the  cold  thin  atmosphere." 

Imitative  Words 
Words  that   convey  something  of   their  meaning  in  words  that 

,,,_..  .        carry  their 

their    sound   are   called    Imitative,    or   Onomatopoetic,  sense  in 

i  their 

words.  sound 

EXAMPLES.  — Hiss,  clash,  buzz,  whirl,  hum,  tinkle. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  The  following  paragraph,  by  Henry  Van  Dyke,  contains  imita- 
tive words,  such  as  teetered,  cowering,  palpitating. 

"As  I  stepped  out  from  a  thicket  on  to  the  shingly  bank  of  a  river, 
a  spotted  sandpiper  teetered  along  before  me,  followed  by  three 
young  ones.  Frightened  at  first,  the  mother  flew  out  a  few  feet  over 
the  water.  But  the  piperlings  could  not  fly,  having  no  feathers ; 
and  they  crept  under  a  crooked  log.  I  rolled  the  log  over  very 
gently  and  took  one  of  the  cowering  creatures  into  my  hand  —  a 
tiny,  palpitating  scrap  of  life,  covered  with  soft  gray  down,  and  peep- 
ing shrilly,  like  a  liliputian  chicken.  And  now  the  mother  was 
transformed.  Her  fear  was  changed  into  fury.  She  was  a  bully,  a 
fighter,  an  Amazon  in  feathers.  She  flew  at  me  with  loud  cries, 
dashing  herself  into  my  face.  I  was  a  tyrant,  a  robber,  a  kidnapper, 
and  she  called  heaven  to  witness  that  she  would  never  give  up  her 
offspring  without  a  struggle.  Then  she  changed  her  tactics  and 
appealed  to  my  baser  passions.  She  fell  to  the  ground  and  fluttered 
around  me  as  if  her  wing  were  broken.  'Look!'  she  seemed  to 
say,  '  I  am  bigger  than  that  poor  little  baby.  If  you  must  eat  some- 
thing, eat  me.  My  wing  is  lame.  I  can't  fly.  You  can  easily  catch 
me.  Let  that  little  bird  go!1  and  so  I  did.  " 

II.  In    his    poem   "  The   Humble-Bee,"  Emerson  writes  of  the 
"burly  dozing  humble-bee,"  calls  him  "zigzag  steerer,"  describes  his 
tone  as  "  drowsy  "  and  his  bass  as  "  mellow,  breezy." 


80  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

EXERCISES 

I.  Find  imitative  words  in  the  following  part  of  a  descrip- 
tive paragraph  :  — 

EARLY  EVENING  IN  THE  MEADOW 

A  robin  flits  across  the  opening,  calling  "More  rain!"  In  the 
lowland  on  the  right  tinkles  a  cow-bell,  and  I  hear  the  sucking  of 
the  mud,  as  the  cattle  turn  away  after  their  evening  draught.  From 
the  rushes  comes  the  harsh  croaking  of  frogs,  supplanted  by  an 
occasional  "kerchug!"  as  the  elderly  gentlemen  exchange  compli- 
ments in  regard  to  the  whiteness  of  their  waistcoats.  Then  the 
warm,  moist  nose  of  Old  Bess  touching  my  hand  reminds  me  that  it 
is  time  to  go  home. 

II.  Find  specific  and  imitative  words  in  the  following  sen- 
tences :  — 

1 .  The  most  beautiful  thing  I  have  seen  at  sea  ...  is  the  trail 
of  a  shoal  of  fish  through  the  phosphorescent  water.     It  is  like  a 
flight  of  silver  rockets  or  the  streaming  of  northern  lights  through 
that  silent  nether  heaven.     I  thought  nothing  could  go  beyond  that 
rustling  star-foam  which  was  churned  up  by  our  ship's  bows  or  those 
eddies  and  disks  of  dreamy  flame  that  rose  and  wandered  out  of 
sight  behind  us. 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL:  "Leaves  from  My  Journal  at  Sea." 

2.  It  is  the  great  red  dragon  that  is  born  of  the  little  red  eggs  we 
call  sparks,  with  his  hundred  blowing  manes,  and  his  thousand  lash- 
ing red  tails,  and  his  multitudinous  red  eyes  glaring  at  every  crack  and 
key-hole,  and  his  countless  red  tongues  lapping  the  beams  he  is  going 
to  crunch  presently,  and  his  hot  breath  warping  the  panels  and  crack- 
ing the  glass  and  making  old  timber  sweat  that  had  forgotten  it  was 
ever  alive  with  sap: 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES  :  "  The  Professor  at  the  Breakfast  Table." 

3.  And  then  wait  yet  for  one  hour,  while  the  east  again  becomes 
purple,  and  the  heaving  mountains,  rolling  against  it  in  darkness  like 
waves  of  a  wild  sea,  are  drowned  one  by  one  in  the  glory  of  its 


DICTION  8 1 

burning ;  watch  the  white  glaciers  blaze  in  their  winding  paths  about 
the  mountains,  like  mighty  serpents  with  scales  of  fire ;  watch  the 
columnar  peaks  of  solitary  snow,  kindling  downward,  chasm  by 
chasm,  each  in  itself  a  new  morning.  .  .  . 

JOHN  RUSKIN  :  "  Modern  Painters." 

III.  Find  specific  and  imitative  words  in  "Silas  Marner,"  in 
the  third  paragraph  of  Chapter  x. 

IV.  Write  one  descriptive  sentence  about  each  of  the  fol- 
lowing subjects  of  thought;  use  imitative  words  whenever  it  is 
possible  and  desirable  to  do  so.     A  word  is  desirable  when  it 
is  useful. 

1.  The  beehive. 

2.  The  throng  made  way  for  the  rescuer. 

3.  Our  schoolroom  during  recess  time. 

4.  The  cave. 

5.  How  I  saddled  the  horse. 

6.  •  The  stroke  that  won  the  game. 

7.  How  the  water  comes  round  the  bend. 

V.  Write  a  sequence  of  three  paragraphs  on  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing groups  of  topics;    remember  to  choose  specific  and 
imitative  words  whenever  they  are  useful :  — 

i.   The  church  on  our  square. 
Its  chimes. 
When  I  enjoy  them  most. 

(2.    The  dining-room,  or  the  waiting-room  at  the  station,  or  a  part 
of  a  main  thoroughfare  :  — 
a.   In  the  early  morning. 

b.  At  noon. 

c.  At  night. 

[The  first  paragraph  of  i  might  open  with  a  general  statement 
regarding  the  appearance  of  the  church,  and  be  developed  by  means 
of  particulars ;  the  second  might  state  that  the  church  has  chimes, 
and  be  developed  by  means  of  a  description  of  them ;  the  third 
might  tell  when  you  enjoy  them  most,  and  be  developed  by  an  enu- 
meration of  the  reasons  for  special  enjoyment  at  the  time  mentioned.] 


82 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Epithets 

Note  in  the  sentences  under  illustrations  the  most  de- 
scriptive (the  underlined)  adjectives.  Such  adjectives 
are  called  Epithets. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 
I.    Far  ran  the  naked  moon  across 


The  houseless  ocean's  heaving  field. 
She  uttered  a  half-fantastic  prayer. 
The  peaky  islet  shifted  shapes. 


II. 
III. 
IV.  A  confusion  of  clouds  let  the  sunlight  fall  in  misty  lines. 


An  epithet  is  a  characteristic  adjective;  it  is  so  de- 
riptive  of  its  noun  th 
other  explanatory  term. 


An  epithet 
is  very  de- 
scriptive scnptive  of  its  noun  that,  often,  the  noun  requires  no 


EXERCISES 

I.  The  following  italicized  words  from  Milton  were  selected 
by  pupils  to  illustrate  the  term  epithet.  Do  you  approve  each 
choice?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

nibbling  flocks  checkered  shade 

twilight  groves  dewy-feathered  sleep 

smooth-sliding  Mincius  (a  stream)          destined  urn 
moist  vows  mellowing  year 

laureate  hearse 
rocking  winds 
iron  tears 


honeyed  thigh  (of  a  bee) 
low-browed  rocks 
laboring  clouds 


II.  Find  at  least  one  epithet  in  I,  page  79. 

III.  Discuss  the  following  attempts  to  gain  vigor  by  a  careful 
choice  of  words  : 

I.  We  had  now  reached  the  edge  of  the  marsh,  through  which 
the  little  river  sluggishly  flowed.  Upon  its  unruffled  surface  floated 
pond-lilies,  the  color  of  their  dark  leaves  blending  with  that  of  the 


DICTION  83 

blackish  water  beneath  them.  A  gentle  splash  broke  the  peaceful 
stillness  of  the  swamp,  as  a  frog  that  had  been  sunning  itself  on  a 
tuft  of  wire-grass  in  midstream  leaped  into  the  muddy  water.  Occa- 
sionally the  rushes  on  the  opposite  bank  swayed  and  trembled,  as 
some  wild  bird  broke  cover  and  fluttered  to  the  woods  beyond. 

[The  mention  of  the  specific  flower,  animal,  and  grass  gives  the 
reader  definiteness  of  impression  ;  it  enables  him  to  make  a  picture 
in  his  mind.] 

2.  As  I  walked  along  the  railroad  track  the  sand  sifted  into  my 
shoes  ;  my  hands  puffed  up  with  the  heat,  my  face  felt  drawn  and 
shrivelled.     I  climbed  over  a  wall  in  search  of  a  brook  or  well  of 
water,  but  found  instead  a  peach  orchard.     The  owner  gave  me  a 
large,  ripe,  mellow  peach.     The  skin  popped  as  I  bit  into  it  —  so 
tightly  was  it  crowded  by  the  flesh.     I  really  drank  the  peach,  and 
the  cooling  juice,  trickling  down  my  throat,  relieved  its  tension.     I 
turned  the  skin  inside  out,  and  with    reluctance   threw  the  stone 
away. 

[What  specific  or  imitative  words  are  in  the  last  paragraph?  Dis- 
tinguish between  really  and  actually.  Has  the  writer  been  precise 
in  choosing  really?  What,  in  your  opinion,  is  the  proper  modifier 
for  drank?  Are  commas  properly  used  in  the  third  sentence?  Give 
a  reason  for  your  answer.] 

3.  A  breeze  swept  through  the  forest,  bringing  the  chestnut  burrs 
to  the  ground.     I  sprang  up  to  open  one  and  find  the  fat,  brown, 
silken  nut. 

[Substitute  a  word  more  descriptive  than  bringing.'} 

IV.  Select  three  from  the  following  subjects  and  write  a  sen- 
tence or  a  paragraph  about  each.  Remember  that  clearness  and 
exactness  are  of  more  importance  than  picturesqueness  is,  but 
use  specific  words,  also  epithets  and  imitative  words,  whenever 
such  expressions  prove  helpful.  Be  sure  that  the  sentences  or 
paragraphs  have  unity. 

1 .  Going  down  the  toboggan  slide. 

2.  The  rain  on  the  roof. 

3.  Popping  the  corn. 


84  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

4.  In  the  chimney-corner  while  a  storm  rages  outside. 

5.  Blazing  our  way  through  the  forest. 

6.  A  face  peered  out  from  the  dusty  (or  frosty)  window. 

7.  The  boats  are  off  for  the  race. 

8.  The  organ  grinder. 

9.  The  tramp. 

10.  An  odd  corner  of  our  town. 

1 1 .  The  path  across  the  meadow. 

12.  When  the  candy  boiled  over. 

V.  Find  epithets  in  "  Silas  Marner,"  Chapter  x. 

VI.  Write  a  sequence  of  paragraphs  about  one  of  the  follow- 
ing groups : — 

1.  The  Contest  of  the  Season. 

a.  The  signal  for  the  beginning  of  the  contest. 

b.  How  the  critical  point  was  brought  about. 

c.  The  finish. 

2.  My  Apple-Tree. 

a.  In  midwinter. 

b.  Late  in  May. 

c.  In  October. 

3.  The  Place  that  Attracts  Me  Most. 

a.  Why  it  draws  me. 

b.  What  I  should  do  if  I  were  in  it  now 

c.  Would  I  stay  in  it  forever  ? 

4.  The  most  Difficult  Decision  of  My  Life. 

a.  Why  I  had  to  make  it. 

b.  My  decision. 

c.  The  result. 

VII.  Distinguish   the   synonyms  in  each  of  the   following 
groups  from  one  another. 

Synonym  [A  synonym  is  one  of  two  or  more  words  which  have  very 

nearly  the  same  general  signification,  yet  are  sufficiently  differ- 
ent in  meaning  to  need  to  be  distinguished  from  one  another.] 


DICTION  85 

Abundance,  plenty  ;  adversary,  antagonist,  enemy  ;  allow,  permit  ; 
argue,  debate,  dispute  ;  blunder,  error,  mistake  ;  conceal,  Jiide,  secrete  ; 
convince,  persuade  ;  costly,  precious,  valuable  ;  custom,  habit  ;  customs, 
tar  iff,  tax;  empty,  vacant  ;  evidence,  proof,  testimony  ;  honest,  sincere, 
true  ;  journey,  voyage  ;  knowledge,  wisdom  ;  law,  rule. 

VIII.  Write  the  antonym  for  each  word  in  the  following  list.   Antonym 
[An  antonym  is  a  word  of  opposite  meaning,  a  counter  term.   defined 

Examples  :  cheap,  dear  ;  foe,  friend  ;  waste,  save.~\ 

Courage,  dwarf,  gay,  height,  hope,  idle,  import,  narrow,  shun, 
shy,  straight,  sullen. 

IX.  Write  four  words  that  have  lately  been  added  to  your 
vocabulary.     Give  the  meaning  and  derivation  of  each  word. 

A  word  is  ours  only  when  it  expresses  our  experience  when  a 
or  life,  whether  actual  or  imagined.     He  who  never  has  aiiybe- 


sown  seed  on  good  ground  and  reaped  the  subsequent 
rich  harvest,  or  scattered  it  on  rocky  soil  and  looked  vocabulary 
in  vain  for  the  abundance  that  rewards  the  cultivator  of 
fertile  land,  will  hardly  appreciate  the  parable  of  the 
sower.  But  he  who  has  planted  seeds  and  watered  and 
shaded  vines,  gets  the  full  meaning  of  the  parable  ;  his 
experience  interprets  it. 

Holmes,  in  "  The  Professor  at  the  Breakfast  Table  " 
(II),  writes  thus  about  words:  — 

"  I  tell  you  what,  Sir,  there  are  a  thousand  lives,  aye,  sometimes  a 
million,  go  to  get  a  new  word  into  a  language  that  is  worth  speak- 
ing. We  know  what  language  means  too  well  here  ...  to  play 
tricks  with  it.  We  never  make  a  new  word  till  we  have  made  a  new 

thing  or  a  new  thought,  Sir!" 

A  second 

In   reading    English    classics,   note   new    words    and  adding  to 
become  acquainted  with  them.  vocabulary 


CHAPTER   IX 

FIGURES   OF   SPEECH    (TROPES1) 
Simile,  Metaphor,  Personification,  Apostrophe,  Hyperbole 

Figure  of          AN  expression  that  is  not  literal  and  that  brings  out 
flnTd  one's  meaning  with  remarkable  clearness  or  vividness, 

is  called  a  Figure  of  Speech. 

EXERCISE 

Note  the  deviations  from  literal  expression  in  the  following 
sentences : — 

1 .  Every  wave  had  a  white  cap  on. 

2.  The  timbers  groaned. 

3.  The  tree-tops  whispered  to  him. 

4.  The  ice  was  like  glass. 

5.  They  melted  my  heart  with  their  pathetic  stories. 

6.  When  my  neighbor  becomes  enraged,  I  hear  a  Niagara  of  abuse. 

7.  After  my  Thanksgiving  dinner,  I  was  as  full  as  a  hayloft  packed 

tight  and  trodden  down  hard. 

8.  The  turkey  seemed  to  be  mountain  high. 

9.  My  cat's  eyes  are  emeralds. 

10.  Her  hair  was  as  soft  as  silk  and  as  yellow  as  flax, 

n.  Trees  nodded  and  the  brook  laughed. 

12.  The  wind's  breath  was  chilly. 

13.  The  sun's  rays  fell  through  the  pines  like  fine  threads  of  gold. 

1  Trope  is  from  the  Greek  tropos,  meaning  a  turning;  it  signifies,  the 
turning  of  a  word  from  its  ordinary  meaning  to  furnish  a  name  for  some 
new  idea. 

86 


FIGURES   OF    SPEECH  87 

14.    The  room  was  a  furnace. 
15'.    Nature  had  spread  a  green  carpet  there. 

1 6.    The  east  wind  howled  through  the  narrow  valley  and  called  the 
dry  leaves  to  follow  him. 

One  discovers  that  the  figures  of  speech  in  the  num-  Figures  are 

,    , . ....  .  .     ,  of  different 

bered  sentences  are  of  different  kinds.  kinds 

In  4,  ice  is  said  to  resemble  glass,  and  the  word  of 
comparison,  like,  is  expressed ;  in  10,  hair  is  compared 
to  silk  for  softness  and  to  flax  for  color,  and  the  word 
of  comparison,  as,  is  found ;  in  1 3,  rays  are  likened  to 
threads  of  gold,  and  again  there  is  a  word  of  comparison, 
like.  These  three  deviations  from  literal  expression  are 
of  one  sort ;  each  compares  two  things  that  have  some 
resemblance,  and  expresses  the  word  of  comparison. 
The  name  of  this  figure  of  speech  is  Simile.  A  simile  simile 

,.,  .  .  defined 

likens  one  thing  to  another  and  contains  some  word  or 
words  expressive  of  likeness. 

In  5,  a  heart  is  assumed  to  be  something  that  can  be 
melted ;  in  9,  the  cat's  eyes  are  spoken  of  as  though 
they  were  emeralds;  in  14,  a  room  is  called  a  furnace; 
and  in  15,  grass  ^is  represented  as  a  carpet:  in  each  of 
these  four  cases  a  thing  is  said  to  be  something  that  it  is 
not.  Resemblance  exists,  and,  because  of  that  resem- 
blance, what  belongs  to  one  of  the  two  things  compared 
is  attributed  to  the  other.  The  resemblance  is  not  for- 
mally expressed,  as  in  the  simile,  by  means  of  a  word  of 
comparison.  This  figure  of  speech  is  called  Metaphor.  Metaphor 

defined 

A  Metaphor  refers  to  something  as  if  it  actually  were 
another  thing  which  it  somewhat  resembles. 


PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 


What  the 
resem- 
blance in 
the  simile 
and  the 
metaphor 
should  be 


Both  the  simile  and  the  metaphor  are  founded  upon 
resemblance.  Their  comparisons  should  not  be  far- 
fetched :  yet  they  should  not  compare  two  objects  of 
the  same  class ;  as,  for  example,  two  men,  two  cliffs, 
two  trees.  Surprise  adds  to  the  pleasure  a  figure  gives, 
surprise  at  the  discovery  of  a  likeness  one  had  not 
thought  of  but  at  once  recognizes. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  THE  SIMILE  AND  THE  METAPHOR 

I.  He  laughed  a  pitiful  mawkish  laugh,  like  the  sound  of  rinsing 
a  bottle. 

II.  He  was  as  hard  and  sharp  as  flint,  from  which  no  steel  had 
ever  struck  out  generous  fire ;  secret,  and  self-contained,  and  soli- 
tary as  an  oyster. 

III.  I  was  physician  enough  to  know,  that  unless  the  wounds  of 
his  bleeding  honor  were  stanched,  the  days  of  his  life  must  be  few. 

IV.  Ay,  but  the  wind  of  prophecy  hath  chopped  about,  and  sits 
now  in  another  corner. 

V.  With   his  face  and  whole  person  squeezed  close  up  to  his 
master,  and   his  bare  feet  propped  on    the   hind  axle-bar   of  the 
droshky,  he  looked  like  a  little  leaf  or  worm  which  had  clung  by 
chance  to  the  gigantic  carcass  before  him. 

VI.  "And   now,    Sir  Cedric,"   he  said,   "my  ears  are  chiming 
vespers  with  the  strength  of  your  good  wine."   . 

VII.  There  were  great  round  pot-bellied    baskets  of  chestnuts 
shaped  like  the  waistcoats  of  jolly  old  gentlemen. 

In  i,  2,  3,  11,  12,  15,  16,  page  86,  one  finds 
waves,  timbers,  tree-tops,  trees,  brook,  wind,  nature, 
and  east  wind  spoken  of  as  if  they  were  human 
and  could  do  what  persons  can  do ;  that  is,  one 
Personified  finds  Personification,  Personification  represents  inani- 
mate things  as  having  life  and  action,  or  represents  a 


FIGURES   OF   SPEECH  89 

lower  form  of  life  as  having  the  qualities  of  a  higher 
form. 

If  one  speaks  to  the  dead  as  if  they  were  living,  or  Apostrophe 
to  the  absent  as  if  they  were  present,  or  to  what  is  in- 
animate as  if  it  were  animate,  he  uses  the  figure  Apos- 
trophe.      Not    infrequently   what   is    apostrophized   is 
personified  also.     Each  of  the  following  quotations  con- 
tains an  apostrophe ;  where,  if  at  all,  is  the  apostrophe  what  is 
accompanied  by  personification  ?    I  is  from  "  The  Court-  phize™ 
ship  of  Miles  Standish,"  II,  from  "  Julius  Oesar,"  and  °oSedPer 
III,  from  Milton's  "  Comus." 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  "Here  I   remain,"  he  exclaimed,  as  he  looked  at  the  heavens 

above  him, 

"  Yonder  snow-white  cloud,  that  floats  in  the  ether  above  me. 
Seems  like  a  hand  that  is  pointing  and  beckoning  over  the 

ocean. 

Float,  O  hand  of  cloud,  and  vanish  away  in  the  ether. 
Roll  thyself  up  like  a  fist,  to  threaten  and  daunt  me." 

II.  Titinius.  —  Cassius  is  no  more.     O  setting  sun  ! 
As  in  thy  red  rays  thou  dost  sink  to  night, 

,  So  in  his  red  blood  Cassius1  day  is  set. 

III.  And  envious  darkness,  ere  they  could  return, 

Had  stole  them  from  me ;  else,  O  thievish  Night, 
Why  should'st  thou,  but  for  some  felonious  end, 
In  thy  dark  lantern  thus  close  up  the  stars  ? 

In  6,  7,  8,  page  86,  the  truth  is  overstated  in  order  Hyperbole 
that    it    may   be  realized.      This    figure   of    speech   is 
Hyperbole.     Hyperbole  is  intentional  exaggeration  for 
the  purpose  of  making  the  truth  evident. 


90  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

EXERCISES 

I.  Classify  each  figure  of  speech  in  the  following  extracts 
selected  by  pupils,  as  simile,  metaphor,  personification,  apos- 
trophe, or  hyperbole  :  — 

1.  Bats  hung  in  the  corners,  like  dusty  grey  bags. 

2.  One  could  hardly  help  fancying  that  it  [the  building]  must 
have  run  there  when  it  was  a  young  house,  playing  at  hide-and-seek 
with  other  houses,  and  have  forgotten  the  way  out  again. 

3.  Befriend  me,  Night,  best  patroness  of  grief ! 

4.  So  they  sat  sorrowful  in  assembly,  and  he  stood  up  weeping 
like  a  fountain  of  dark  water  that  from  a  beetling  cliff  poureth  down 
its  black  stream. 

5.  To  them  the  doors  gave  way 
Groaning,  and  in  the  vestal  entry  shrieked 
The  virgin  marble  under  iron  heels. 

6.  Their  roots  ran  this  way  and  that,  slippery  to  the  feet  and 
looking  like  disinterred  bones. 

7.  There  were  Norfolk  Biffins,  squab  and  swarthy,  setting  off 
the  yellow  of  the  oranges  and  lemons,  and,  in  the  great  compactness 
of  their  juicy  persons,  urgently  entreating  and  beseeching  to  be 
carried  home  in  paper  bags  and  eaten  after  dinner. 

8.  Thou  sure  and  firm -set  earth, 
Hear  not  my  steps,  which  way  they  walk. 

9.  I  saw  their  chief,  tall  as  a  rock  of  ice,  his  spear  the  blasted 
fir.  his  shield  the  rising  moon ;  he  sat  on  the  shore  like  a  cloud  of 
mist  on  the  hill. 

10.    I  am  the  Vine,  ye  are  the  branches. 

u.  A  plague  upon  the  weeds  !  Every  day,  when  I  walk  in  my 
own  little  literary  garden-plot,  I  spy  some,  and  should  like  to  have 
a  spud  and  root  them  out. 

12.  Sometimes  he  climbed  up  to  the  window  and  watched  for 
hours  the  smoke  curling  from  an  endless  wilderness  of  chimney-pots. 

13.  Such  is  the  strength  with  which  population  shoots  in  that 
part  of  the  world  [the  American  colonies]  that,  state  the  numbers  as 
high  as  we  will,  whilst  the  dispute  continues,  the  exaggeration  ends ; 
whilst  we  are  discussing  any  given  magnitude,  they  are  grown  to  it. 


FIGURES   OF   SPEECH  91 

14.  All  round  the  coast  the  languid  air  did  swoon, 
Breathing  like  one  that  hath  a  weary  dream. 

15.  As  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem,  so  the  Lord  is 
round  about  his  people  from  henceforth  even  forever. 

1 6.  And  through  the  moss  the  ivies  creep, 

And  in  the  stream  the  long-leaved  flowers  weep, 
And  from  the  craggy  ledge  the'poppy  hangs  in  sleep.  ' 

17.  Even  as  .when  the  tribe  of  thronging  bees  issue  from  some 
hollow  rock,  ever  in  fresh  procession,  and  fly  clustering  among  the 
flowers  of  spring,  and  some  on  this  hand  and  some  on  that  fly  thick  ; 
even  so  from  ships  and  huts  before  the  low  beach  marched  forth 
their  many  tribes  by  companies,  to  the  place  of  assembly. 

II.  Are  the  following  figures  from  "Silas  Marner  "  useful? 
One  should  be  able  fully  to  imagine  the  suggested  comparisons 
and  to  do  so  with  satisfaction.  Is  it  satisfactory  or  pleasing  to 
think  of  a  yoke  breeding  hate?  to  imagine  scenes  hung  on  a 
thread?  to  picture  Godfrey  drawn  by  Nancy's  silken  rope? 
Give  a  reason  for  each  answer. 

1.  The  yoke  a  man  creates  for  himself  by  wrong-doing  will  breed 
hate  in  the  kindliest  nature. 

2.  There  was  one  main  thread  of  painful  experience  in  Nancy's 
married  life,  and  on  it  hung  certain  deeply  felt  scenes,  which  were 
the  oftenest  revived  in  retrospect. 

3.  Instead  of  keeping  fast  hold  of  the  strong  silken  rope  by 
which  Nancy  would  have  drawn  him  safe  to  the  green  banks  where 
it  was  easy  to  step  firmly,  he  had  let  himself  be  dragged  back  into 
mud  and  slime,  in  which  it  was  useless  to  struggle. 

With  the  exception  of  the  apostrophe,  the  figures  of  Most  of  the 

speech  thus  far  considered  call  up  images  ;  they  show  one  sidled  can 

thing,  or  a  part  of  it,  under  the  guise  of  something  else.  upimages 

Avoid  :  — 

I.    The  mingling  of  figurative  and  literal  expressions,  cautions 

EXAMPLE.  —  Beside  him  sleeps  the  warrior's  bow,  and  it  is  made 
of  wood  that  is  very  elastic. 


92  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

II.    Using  metaphors  that  call  up  incongruous  images. 

EXAMPLE. — The  waves  tumbled  in  like  race-horses,  churning 
themselves  to  foam. 

Use  figures  only  when  they  contribute  to  clearness  or 
force,  or  in  some  other  way  help  to  accomplish  a  pur- 
pose. 

EXERCISE 

Consider  the  following  work  with  reference  to  its  use  of 
figures.  Classify  the  figures  of  speech.  Note  specific  and 
imitative  words. 

I.  This  was  a  dinner  to  be  remembered!  The  table  groaned 
under  the  weight  of  the  good  things  upon  it,  and  at  one  end  was  the 
huge  turkey  covered  with  a  forest  of  parsley.  When  the  table  had 
been  cleared  and  every  one  was  so  expectant  that  he  could  hardly 
sit  still,  the  kitchen  door  opened  and  in  walked  the  butler,  bearing 
a  plum  pudding,  such  a  pudding!  It  was  so  large  that  he  could 
hardly  lift  it,  and  blazed  away  like  a  fiery  comet  that  left  a  train  of 
savory  odor  behind.  Last  of  all  came  the  wassail  bowl,  with  its 
bobbing  apples  and  hot  spicy  smell,  filling  the  room  with  an  odor 
which  cannot  be  described,  but  which  I  would  go  miles  for  and 
which  poets  sing  about. 

[Would  it  be  an  improvement  to  write  the  last  clause  thus:  "but 
for  which  I  would  go  miles  and  about  which  poets  sing11?  There  is 
likely  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion  on  this  point.  The  suggested 
clauses  are  more  formal  than  the  original.  Is  the  paragraph 
formal  ?] 

II.   THE  OLD  APPLE-TREE 

The  tree,  a  runaway  from  the  near-by  orchard,  stood  a  few  rods 
nearer  the  house  than  the  other  trees  in  the  fruit  lot. 

After  a  wet,  clogging  snow-storm,  the  lone  apple-tree  bore  plenti- 
ful fruit,  pure,  sparkling  white  masses  on  every  branch.  The 
wrinkled  limbs  protested  querulously  against  the  heavy  load  every 
time  the  wind  bellowed  through  the  wood,  beseeching  him  to  cast 
off  the  load,  saying:  '"Don't  you  see  how  rheumatism  has  shrunken 


FIGURES    OF    SPEECH  93 

me?  Throw  off  this  dampness,  or  I  shall  be  more  deformed.  Why, 
I  am  twisted  like  twenty  serpents  now ! " 

In  early  spring,  when  the  first  green  snakes  began  to  squirm  out 
to  bask  in  the  sun's  friendly  warmth,  a  faint  green  veil  appeared 
over  the  tree.  Soon  this  lovely  mist  was  of  a  deeper  color,  and  then 
the  tender  leaves  pointed  out  their  blades  of  shining  green.  Dots 
of  white  and  pink  pushed  through  the  foliage,  and  the  tree  was  a 
rosy  sunset  cloud  blown  from  the  west  to  our  farm. 

The  vision  of  the  twisted  branches  and  sturdy  trunk  of  the  old 
apple-tree  is  as  happy  a  one  as  is  the  recollection  of  his  kindred  to 
one  far  from  home. 

[Would  it  be  well  to  omit  near-by  from  the  first  sentence?  Give 
a  reason  for  your  answer.  Near-by  is  an  expression  peculiar  to  the 
United  States  —  colloquial.  Would  it  be  an  improvement  to  sub- 
stitute in  the  first  sentence  "any  other1'  for  the  other  trees?  Give 
a  reason  for  your  answer.  Would  not  "  its  "  be  a  more  definite  word 
than  the  with  which  to  begin  the  third  sentence  ?  Would  •'  precious  " 
be  preferable  to  happy  in  the- last  sentence?  Give  a  reason  for  your 
answer.  If  "  precious "  be  accepted,  omit  a  one  in  the  same  sen- 
tence and  put  "  to  me  "  in  its  place.  The  suggested  sentence  is  less 
awkward  than  the  original ;  a  one  has  been  eliminated  and  unneces- 
sary repetition  avoided.] 

The  use  of  figures  of  speech  is  natural.  All  classes  Figurative 
resort  to  them  to  make  the  meaning  of  what  they  say 
or  write  strikingly  clear.  The  villagers  in  "  Silas  Mar- 
ner "  (see  Chapter  vi)  frequently  use  figurative  lan- 
guage. The  author  of  the  book  knew  their  habits ;  she 
had  lived  among  such  people  and  represented  them 
faithfully. 

The  simile  and  the  metaphor  are  perhaps  especially 
serviceable.  One  is  continually  noting  similarities  and 
differences ;  some  resemblances  and  contrasts  are  evi- 
dent, others  are  more  hidden. 


94  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

EXERCISE 

Write  a  descriptive  paragraph  about  one  of  the  following 
topics ;  use  a  simile,  a  metaphor,  or  personification  to  help 
convey  your  meaning  :  — 

1.  Amoving  shadow  —  on  the  grass,  or  on  the  curtain  at  the 
window. 

2.  Some  outdoor  object  after  a  heavy  fall  of  clinging  snow. 

3.  The  Christmas  tree:  as  I  saw  it  on  Christmas  Eve,  and  as  I 
saw  it  afterward  in  March,  cast  into  a  vacant  lot. 

4.  Humming-birds  that  visit  our  honeysuckle. 

5.  The  sun  looks  out  through  a  rift  in  the  clouds. 

6.  Skimming  over  the  ice. 

7.  The  swimming  pool,  or  The  swimming  tank. 

8.  A  walk  over  dry  leaves,  or  pine-needles,  or  crusted  snow. 

9.  What  one  of  my  pets  looks  like. 


CHAPTER   X 

TWO   KINDS   OF   DESCRIPTIVE   WRITING 
THE  knowledge  of  words  and  of  figures  of  speech  interest 

i    .       , ,  , .  i         i  i       •         •    ,  grows  with 

acquired  in  the  preceding  chapters    should  give  inter-  knowledge 
est  to  fresh  work  in  description. 

A  description  may  represent  fact  alone  or  may  em- 
body both  fact  and  feeling.  Dryden  says  of  Shake- 
speare,1 "  When  he  describes  anything,  you  more  than  subjective 

....  and  objec- 

see  it,  you  feel  it  too.       The  term  subjective  designates  tive  de- 
descriptive  writing  that  conveys  feeling  as  well  as  fact, 
while  objective  designates  that  which  records  fact  alone. 

What  is  objective  deals  with  objects  or  facts ;  what  is  objective 
subjective,  with  states  of  mind  or  feeling.  subjective 

defined 
ILLUSTRATIONS 

The  first  of  the  following  descriptions  deals  with  facts  alone. 
Contrast  it  with  3,  page  80,  into  which  Ruskin  has  put  his  own 
supreme  delight ;  with  the  following  II,  which  portrays  what  a  travel- 
ler going  along  the  way  described  would  feel;  and  with  III,  page 
96,  which  represents  the  boy's  horror. 

I.  Look  up  and  down  this  side  of  the  glacier.  It  is  considerably 
riven,  but  as  we  advance  the  crevasses  will  diminish,  and  we  shall 
find  very  few  of  them  at  the  other  side.  Note  this  for  future  use. 
The  ice  is  at  first  dirty ;  but  the  dirt  soon  disappears,  and  you 

1  "  An  Essay  on  Dramatic  Poetry." 
95 


96  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

come  upon  the  clean  crisp  surface  of  the  glacier.  You  have  already 
noticed  that  the  clean  ice  is  white,  and  that  from  a  distance  it 
resembles  snow  rather  than  ice.  .  .  Within  the  glacier  the  ice  is 
transparent.  JOHN  TYNDALL:  "  Passage  to  the  Montanvert." 

II.  You   fare   along,  on  some   narrow   roadway,  through  stony 
labyrinths ;   huge  rock-mountains  hanging  over  your  head  on  this 
hand,  and  under  your  feet  on  that ;  the  roar  of  mountain  cataracts, 
horror  of  bottomless  chasms  ;  —  the  very  winds  and  echoes  howling 
on  you  in  an  almost  preternatural  manner.     Towering  rock-barriers 
rise  sky-high  before  you  and  behind  you,  and  around  you ;  intricate 
the  outgate !     The  roadway  is  narrow ;    footing  none  of  the  best. 
Sharp  turns  there   are,  where  it  will   behoove  you  to  mind   your 
paces ;  one  false  step  and  you  will  need  no  second ;  in  the  gloomy 
jaws  of  the  abyss  you  vanish,  and  the  spectral  winds  howl  requiem. 
Somewhat  better  are  the  suspension  bridges,  made  of  bamboo  and 
leather,  though  they  swing  like  see-saws :  men  are  stationed  with 
lassos,  to  gin  you  dexterously,  and  fish  you  up  from  the  torrent,  if 
you  trip  there.  THOMAS  CARLYLE:  "Dr.  Francia." 

III.  .  .   .  And  so,  ...  I  came  to  an  opening  in  the  bushes, 
where  a  great  black  pool  lay  in  front  of  me,  whitened  with  snow 
(as  I  thought)  at  the  sides,  till  I  saw  it  was  only  foam-froth. 

And  the  look  of  this  black  pit  was  enough  to  stop  one  from 
diving  into  it,  even  on  a  hot  summer's  day,  with  sunshine  on  the 
water;  I  mean,  if  the  sun  ever  shone  there.  As  it  was,  I  shuddered 
and  drew  back ;  not  alone  at  the  pool  itself,  and  the  black  air  there 
was  about  it,  but  also  at  the  whirling  manner,  and  wisping  of  white 
threads  upon  it  in  stripy  circles  round  and  round,  and  the  centre 
still  as  jet.  R.  D.  BLACKMORK  :  "  Lorna  Doone." 

EXERCISES 

I.   Consider  the  following  work  :  — 

i.  a.   A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  WAY  TO  MY  ROCK 
(Written  to  convey  fact  rather  than  feeling.) 
Follow  the  north  road  from  the  station  until  a  group  of  pine-trees 
is  found  on  the  left.    Two  of  the  trees  have  been  blazed.    Turn  into 


DESCRIPTION  97 

the  left-hand  road.  You  will  soon  see  a  cottage  with  a  huge  rock 
behind  it.  Climb  to  the  top  of  this  rock,  scramble  halfway  down 
its  face,  sink  into  the  natural  chair  that  you  cannot  miss,  and  dream 
until  hunger  brings  you  back  to  everyday  life. 

b.   DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ROCK  AS  A  PLACE  FOR  REVERY 

(Intended  to  show  feeling  for  the  place.) 

The  rock  on  the  hillside  is  a  place  for  rest  and  dreams.  A  worn 
part  of  it  —  where  the  Indians  that  once  lived  on  the  hill  continually 
leaned  as  they  watched  from  this,  their  lookout — -makes  a  comfort- 
able niche  for  the  back.  The  shadow  of  the  rock  gives  shelter  from 
intense  light.  Within  easy  reach  of  my  hand  are  the  bayberry  and 
sweet-fern,  while  the  entire  hill  is  soft  with  green  grasses. 

My  eyes  never  tire  of  looking  over  the  far  reaches  of  sea.  Slow- 
moving  ships  carry  me  to  distant  lands.  I  join  many  a  gay  party  as 
little  sail-boats  glide  by.  My  life  takes  the  motion  of  the  passing 
craft.  Everything  seems  so  idle,  so  care-free. 

But  the  water  becomes  once  more  a  vacant  stretch  of  blue.  The 
lapping  on  the  shore,  the  little  gurgling  brooks  that  run  among  stones 
to  the  sea,  close  my  eyes.  My  castles  in  Spain  grow  more  splendid, 
and  I  reach  my  heart's  desire. 

\So  is  not  a  synonym  of  very ;  it  should  not  be  used  as  an  inten- 
sive word.  The  last  sentence  of  the  second  paragraph  would  be 
stronger  if  the  intensive  words  were  omitted.  Note  that  paragraph 
i  b  opens  with  a  topic  sentence  and  develops  by  means  of  an  enu- 
meration of  reasons.  How  do  paragraphs  2  and  3  develop  ? 

2.  THE  DRIFTWOOD  FIRE 

(Description  embodying  fact  and  feeling.) 

What  was  the  subtle  fragrance  that  greeted  us  as  we  crossed  the 
threshold  —  a  fragrance  that  seemed  to  carry  one  away  to  far-off 
lands  in  the  mysterious  East,  to  the  rose  gardens  of  Hafiz  and  the 
spicy  shores  of  Araby  the  Blest?  It  was  not  the  odor  of  carnations, 
though  I  caught  the  gleam  of  a  great  glass  bowl  on  the  table  by  the 
window,  filled  with  the  rich  red  blossoms,  black-red  in  the  gathering 
gloom  ;  nor  was  it  the  odor  of  incense  curling  up  with  the  wreathing 


98  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

smoke-thread  from  the  joss-stick  burning  before  the  little  bronze 
Buddha  on  the  mantel.  No,  it  was  something  more  than  these, — 
behind  them,  back  of  them,  yet  dominating  them. 

What  was  it  ?  It  was  the  fire  of  driftwood  burning  on  the  hearth. 
Scents  of  pine  and  cedar  from  the  woods  of  Maine ;  spicy  smells  of 
cloves  and  nutmeg  and  cinnamon  stored  through  long  voyages  in 
the  holds  of  vessels  long  since  shipwrecked ;  salt  "sea  smells  from 
the  great  deep ;  tropical  odors  from  far  Cathay,  —  all  these  rose 
from  their  driftwood  coffins  at  the  touch  of  the  fire  spirit,  and  lived 
again  in  the  warm  twilight. 

[The  first  paragraph  opens  with  an  inquiry  suggesting  the  para- 
graph topic,  and  develops  by  answering  that  inquiry  in  a  negative 
way.  How  is  the  second  paragraph  developed  ?  Define  subtle  and 
subtile, ~\ 

3.  NEVIN'S  "OPHELIA" 

(A  description  intended  to  hold  something  of  the  writer's  feeling 
for  the  music.) 

It  starts  in  E  minor,  and  before  it  has  proceeded  many  bars  it  has 
made  you  see  Ophelia.  Tired  with  hanging  garlands  on  the  pendent 
boughs  of  the  trees,  she  is  sitting  on  one  of  the  gnarled  trunks  that 
stretch  across  the  brook.  Her  face  is  still  beautiful,  but  coldly  so ; 
for  the  light  of  reason  has  faded  from  it  and  it  is  like  that  of  a  statue 
—  cold,  soulless,  immobile.  As  she  sits,  she  stretches  out  her  hand 
and  from  the  nerveless  fingers  the  blossoms  drop  and  strew  the 
waters  of  the  brook.  Nevin  caught  these  blossoms  as  they  fell,  he 
caught  the  expression  of  the  vacant  face  and  the  thoughts  that 
wandered  idly  to  and  fro,  always  seeking  something,  never  reaching 
it.  But  suddenly  something  passes  over  her!  The  veil  of  madness 
seems  swept  away  —  and  you  have  a  page  of  marvellous  major 
chords  that  lift  you  up  with  them,  up,  up,  until  —  but  now  they 
begin  to  modulate ;  you  feel  that  the  veil  has  not  been  torn  away, 
only  lifted,  it  falls  slowly  again  until,  with  a  deeper  feeling  of  sad- 
ness and  dejection  than  you  have  known  before,  you  feel  yourself 
sinking  back  into  the  dreary  monotone ;  the  flowers  that  she  had 
begun  to  hold  firmly,  even  joyfully,  drop  once  more,  unheeded,  from 
Ophelia's  fingers.  There  is  a  pause,  and  then  it  seems  as  if  the ' 
wailing  of  women  mingled  with  the  sound  of  waters.  It  grows 


DESCRIPTION  99 

fainter  and  fainter  and  finally  dies  away ;  but  one  deep  muffled  tone, 
like  a  bell  tolling  for  the  dead,  completes  the  story  —  and  the  piece. 
[Would  not  /  be  more  fearless  than  you,  lines  2,  12,  etc.?  A 
writer  is  likely  to  be  more  careful  in  his  statements  when  he  acknowl- 
edges that  thoughts  and  feelings  are  his  than  when  he  hides  behind 
you  or  u>e.  What  is  the  exact  meaning  of  reaching?  Study  the 
seventh  sentence  with  reference  to  unity.  Should  it  be  reconstructed  ? 
Give  a  reason  for  you:  answer  to  the  preceding  question.  In  the  last 
sentence  of  3,  does  it  stand  for  'wailing  or  for  sound?  Give  coher- 
ence to  the  sentence  by  using  a  noun  instead  of  //.  Is  the  repetition 
of  feel  necessary?  Whenever  such  repetition  is  not  desirable,  find 
a  substitute  for  fee/.] 

II.    So  write  a  paragraph  about  one  of  the  subjects  in  the 
following  list  that  any  one  seeking  the  place  referred  to  will  be 
able  to  recognize  it  from  your  description ;   write  a  second 
paragraph  in  such  a  way  that  the  reader  will  be  tempted  to 
go  to  the  spot.     In  the  first  paragraph,  facts  will  be  enumer- 
ated ;  in  the  second  there  must  be  feeling,  making  him  who 
reads  desire  to  visit  the  place  described.     In  the  first  exercise 
details  will  probably  be  grouped  according  to  locality ;  in  the 
second,  according   to   the    effect   they  have.     In  writing   the   utilize 
description,  remember  that  specific  and   imitative  words  and   Ofn^rasg 
epithets   may  give  strength  and  swiftness  to  the  work ;   and   *nd  of 
that  figures  of  speech,  if  natural  and  appropriate,  will  add  to  speech 
its  life. 

1.  The  place  I  choose  for  reading  or  for  study. 

2.  Where  I  wish  to  build  my  house. 

3.  The  course  over  which  I  like  to  sail. 

4.  A  corner  of  our  schoolroom. 

5.  Where  I  go  for  my  day-dreams. 

6.  The  room  in  which  our  club  meets. 

7.  The  best  place  for  our  tennis  court. 

8.  A  nook  in  the  park. 

9.  My  favorite  tree. 

10.    The  hillside  on  which  violets  grow. 


Allegory 
defined 


The  object 
and  its 
image 


CHAPTER   XI 

STORIES    TOLD   AS    METAPHORS 
The  Allegory 

A  STORY  in  the  form  of  a  metaphor,1  told  to  convey  a 
truth  or  lesson,  and  worked  out  in  detail,  is  called  an 
Allegory.  The  allegory  tells  of  one  thing  under  the 
image  of  another;  while  writing  or  reading  about  the 
image,  however,  one  is  actually  thinking  of  the  unmen- 
tioned  object  it  represents.  Though  one  reads  in  the 
following  illustration  about  a  person  named  Old  Age, 
one  thinks  about  old  age  itself. 

ILLUSTRATION 
THE  ALLEGORY   OF  OLD  AGE 

Old  Age,  this  is  Mr.  Professor ;  Mr.  Professor,  this  is  Old  Age. 

Old  Age.  —  Mr.  Professor,  I  hope  to  see  you  well.  I  have  known 
you  for  some  time,  though  I  think  you  did  not  know  me.  Shall  we 
walk  down  the  street  together? 

Professor  (drawing  back  a  little).  —  We  can  talk  more  quietly, 
perhaps,  in  my  study.  Will  you  tell  me  how  it  is  you  seem  to  be 
acquainted  with  everybody  you  are  introduced  to,  though  he  evidently 
considers  you  an  entire  stranger  ? 

Old  Age.  —  I  make  it  a  rule  never  to  force  myself  upon  a  person's 
recognition  until  I  have  known  him  at  least  five  years. 

1  See  page  87. 

100 


THE   ALLEGORY  IOI 

Professor.  —  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  have  known  me  so  long 
as  that? 

Old  Age.  —  I  do.  I  left  my  card  on  you  longer  ago  than  that,  but 
I  am  afraid  you  never  read  it ;  yet  I  see  you  have  it  with  you. 

Professor.  —  Where  ? 

Old  Age.  —  There,  between  your  eyebrows,  —  three  straight  lines 
running  up  and  down ;  all  the  probate  courts  know  that  token,  — 
"  Old  Age,  his  mark."  Put  your  forefinger  on  the  inner  end  of  one 
eyebrow,  and  your  middle  finger  on  the  inner  end  of  the  other  eye- 
brow ;  now  separate  the  fingers,  and  you  will  smooth  out  my  sign- 
manual  ;  that's  the  way  you  used  to  look  before  I  left  my  card  on  you. 

Professor.  —  What  message  do  people  generally  send  back  when 
you  first  call  on  them? 

Old  Age.  —  Not  at  home.  Then  I  leave  a  card  and  go.  Next 
year  I  call ;  get  the  same  answer ;  leave  another  card.  So  for  five  or 
six,  —  sometimes  ten  years  or  more.  At  last,  if  they  don't  let  me  in.  I 
break  in  through  the  front  door  or  the  windows. 

We  talked  together  in  this  way  some  time.  Then  Old  Age  said 
again.  —  Come,  let  us  walk  down  the  street  together,  and  offered  me 
a  cane,  an  eye-glass,  a  tippet,  and  a  pair  of  overshoes.  —  No,  much 
obliged  to  you,  said  I.  I  don't  want  those  things,  and  I  had  a  little 
rather  talk  with  you  here,  privately,  in  my  study.  So  I  dressed  my- 
self up  in  a  jaunty  way  and  walked  out  alone ;  —  got  a  fall,  caught  a 
cold,  was  laid  up  with  a  lumbago,  and  had  time  to  think  over  this 
whole  matter. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES:  "The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table." 

The  Fable 
A  short   allegory  about   imaginary    persons    or    be-  Fabie 

defined 

mgs,  animals,  or  inanimate  things  that  speak  and  act 
like  human  beings,  is  a  Fable.  The  fable  points  a 
moral. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  Emerson's  "  Fable  "  —  "  The  Mountain  and  the 
Squirrel  "  —  is  familiar  to  most  high-school  pupils. 

II.    The  most  famous  of  the  old  fables  are  those  by  fii.sop. 


102  PRINCIPLES  OF   RHETORIC 


The  Parable 
Parable  A  short  allegory  that  teaches  some  moral  or  spiritual 

defined 

truth  is  a  rarable. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  "The  Minister's  Black  Veil"  in  Hawthorne's 
"  Twice-Told  Tales." 

II.  The  parables  of  the  Bible.  In  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
St.  Matthew  are  a  good  many  parables.  The  meaning  of  three 
of  them  is  unfolded  in  the  same  chapter. 

The  parable       What  the  parable  teaches  is  true,  but  what  it  narrates 

need  not 

narrate        need  not  actually  have  happened. 

facts 

EXERCISES 

I.  Study  the  following  allegory ;  explain  its  meaning  in  a 
written  paragraph. 

IN  TIME'S  SWING 

Father  Time,  your  footsteps  go 
Lightly  as  the  falling  snow. 
In  your  swing,  I'm  sitting,  see! 
Push  me  softly  ;  one,  two,  three, 
Twelve  times  only.     Like  a  sheet 
Spreads  the  snow  beneath  my  feet : 
Singing  merrily,  let  me  swing 
Out  of  winter  into  spring! 

Swing  me  out,  and  swing  me  in ! 
Trees  are  bare  but  birds  begin 
Twittering  to  the  peeping  leaves 
On  the  bough  beneath  the  eaves. 
Look!  one  lilac-bud  I  saw! 
Icy  hillsides  feel  the  thaw : 
April  chased  off  March  to-day  ; 
Now  I  catch  a  glimpse  of  May. 


THE   ALLEGORY  103 

Oh,  the  smell  of  sprouting  grass! 
In  a  blur  the  violets  pass  : 
Whispering  from  the  wild-wood  come 
Mayflowers'  breath,  and  insects'  hum  ; 
Roses  carpeting  the  ground ; 
Orioles  warbling  all  around  : 
Swing  me  low,  and  swing  me  high, 
To  the  warm  clouds  of  July! 

Slower  now,  for  at  my  side 
White  pond-lilies  open  wide  : 
Underneath  the  pine's  tall  spire 
Cardinal  blossoms  burn  like  fire. 
They  are  gone  ;  the  goldenrod 
Flashes  from  the  dark-green  sod. 
Crickets  in  the  grass  I  hear ; 
Asters  light  the  fading  year. 

Slower  still!  October  weaves 
Rainbows  of  the  forest  leaves. 
Gentians  fringed,  like  eyes  of  blue, 
Glimmer  out  of  sleety  dew. 
Winds  through  withered  sedges  hiss: 
Meadow-green  I  sadly  miss. 
Oh,  'tis  snowing ;  swing  me  fast, 
While  December  shivers  past. 

Frosty-bearded  Father  Time, 
Stop  your  footfall  on  the  rime! 
Hard  your  push,  your  hand  is  rough  ; 
You  have  swung  me  long  enough. 
"  Nay,  no  stopping,"  say  you?     Well, 
Some  of  your  best  stories  tell, 
While  you  swing  me  —  gently,  do!  — 
From  the  Old  Year  to  the  New. 

LUCY  LAKCOM. 


104  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

II.  Consider  and  discuss  the  following  fables  and  alle- 
gories :  — 

i.  THE  MOTH  AND  THE  BEE:  A  FABLE 

The  Bee  shook  himself  and  then  settled  down  under  a  huge  leaf 
to  enjoy  a  night's  rest  after  a  hard  day's  work  of  honey  gathering. 

Soon  a  Moth  fluttered  to  his  side  and  regarded  the  Bee  for  a 
minute  with  great  contempt. 

"  You  are  a  foolish  fellow,"  exclaimed  the  Moth,  "  you  work  so 
hard  all  day  that  you  must  sleep  all  night.  Night  is  the  time  for 
fun ;  come  and  dance  with  me  round  that  glowing  ball  yonder.  It 
looks  warm  and  bright,  and  friendly." 

The  Bee  said  nothing,  but  shook  his  head  and  closed  his  eyes 
again. 

The  Moth  flew  toward  the  flame.  "Why  are  bees  so  foolish?" 
thought  he. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  Bee  opened  one  eye  and  saw,  feebly  flutter- 
ing on  the  ground,  the  singed  Moth. 

MORALS.  —  Idleness  gets  its  own  reward. 

"  Things  are  seldom  what  they  seem.'1 

[The  possessive  form  ('s)  generally  indicates  possession  by  per- 
sons (see  page  51).  Give  a  reason  for  its  use  with  night  and  day  in 
the  first  sentence  of  i.] 

2.   A  FABLE  WITH  A  MORAL 

Once  upon  a- time  a  Large,  Fat,  Sleek  Cat  was  taking  a  stroll, 
when  he  met  his  Brother,  who  was  looking  very  thin  and  dilapidated. 

"  Good  day,"  said  his  Brother. 

"  Good  day,"  answered  the  Fat  Cat,  "  you  are  looking  very 
badly." 

"  And  you  are  looking  very  well." 

"  You  see,"  said  the  Fat  Cat,  "  you  hated  the  Joneses  and 
scratched  them  whenever  they  came  near;  I  hated  the  Joneses,  but 
I  purred  whenever  they  touched  me.  They  feed  me  and  starve  you." 

MORAL.  —  It  is  better  not  to  let  people  know  when  you  hate  them. 

[With  the  preceding  fable  came  this  note  :  "  I  fear  my  moral  is 
no  better  than  the  saying,  '  Honesty  is  the  best  policy.1"] 


FABLE   AND   ALLEGORY  IO5 

3.   THE  SPARROW  AND  THE  BLUEBIRD  :  A  FABLE 

One  day  a  Little  Sparrow,  hopping  from  limb  to  limb  of  an  old 
apple-tree,  saw  a  Beautiful  Bluebird  perch  on  a  limb  near  by.  The 
Sparrow  said,  "  Why  have  you  so  much  more  beautiful  plumage 
than  I  ? "  The  Bluebird  answered,  •'  It  is  because  I  am  more  careful 
of  my  feathers  as  I  hunt  for  my  food  over  the  wide  meadow."  The 
Sparrow,  taking  this  as  a  piece  of  good  advice,  immediately  began 
to  separate  his  feathers  from  one  another  with  his  bill,  but,  though 
he  tried  long,  he  accomplished  nothing;  for  his  feathers  could  not 
be  made  to  shine  like  the  Bluebird's. 

MORAL.  —  You  waste  time  trying  to  be  different  from  what  you 
were  meant  to  be. 

[Would  it  be  correct  to  begin  a  new  paragraph  at  the  fourth 
sentence  ?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer.  Suggest  a  way  to  avoid 
the  unnecessary  repetition  in  the  first  sentence.] 

4.   FAITH  AND  CREDULITY:   AN  ALLEGORY 

One  fine  day  while  Faith  and  Credulity  were  out  for  a  walk,  arm 
in  arm,  they  came  across  a  young  fellow,  who,  upon  seeing  them,  ran 
to  meet  them  and  said,  "  I  am  blind ;  will  you  not  help  me  along  by 
giving  me  some  money?  " 

To  this  Faith  answered,  "  But  you  are  not  blind.  You  glanced 
over  your  shoulder  at  us,  and  then  turned  and  ran  to  where  we  were, 
and  stopped  when  you  got  to  us." 

The  fellow  replied,  "  I  only  heard  you  and  came  in  the  direction 
of  the  sound.  Oh,  give  me  just  a  little ! " 

Still  Faith  would  not  believe  that  he  was  blind ;  but  Credulity 
did,  and  even  after  the  beggar  had  eagerly  stretched  out  his  hand 
and  grabbed  the  money  that  Credulity  offered  him,  he  said :  •'  Poor 
fellow,  it  must  be  terrible  to  be  blind.  You  say  that  there  is  a  God, 
who  cares  for  all  those  in  trouble  ;  if  there  were  such  a  God.  would 
he  not  have  pity  upon  this  poor  fellow  and  restore  his  sight?  I  do 
not  believe  that  there  is  any  God." 

As  Credulity  finished  these  words,  he  turned  to  where  Faith  had 
been  standing,  but  Faith  was  nowhere  to  be  found ;  he  had  fled  at 
the  first  words  of  this  unbeliever,  unable  to  listen  to  such  blasphemy. 


106  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

III.  Write  a  fable.     The  following  sayings  (morals)  suggest 
stories  :  — 

1 .  Who  does  not  sow,  shall  not  reap. 

2.  Experience  is  the  best  teacher. 

3.  Haste  makes  waste. 

4.  He  that  looks  for  trouble  may  find  it. 

5.  He  laughs  who  wins. 

6.  He  laughs  best  who  laughs  last. 

7.  He  that  despairs  in  the  darkest  hour  cannot  make  use  of  the 
dawn. 

8.  Do  not  cross  bridges  until  you  get  to  them. 

IV.  Write  an  allegory.      October  might  be   depicted  as  a 
busy,  hale  fellow,  shaking  down  nuts,  reddening   cranberries, 
painting  forests  and  marshes,  warning  country  folk,  by  means 
of  his  frosts,  to  make  ready  for  a  more  forbidding  visitor,  Winter. 

V.  Find   the  dialogue  that  is  allegorical  in  Chapter  x  of 
"  Silas  Marner." 


CHAPTER   XII 

ANSWERS  TO  PUPILS1  INQUIRIES  —  IV  :  THE  FUTURE 
TENSE,  THE  HISTORIC  PRESENT  TENSE,  SEQUENCE 
OF  TENSES 

The  Future  Tense 

The  Simple  Future  and  the  Future  of  Volition 

THERE  is  a   growing  carelessness  in  the  use  of  the  Twoinflec- 
future  tense.     Learn  the  two  inflections  given  below. 
The  plural  forms  correspond  to  those  of  the  singular. 

SIMPLE  FUTURE  FUTURE  OF  VOLITION 
I  shall  I  will 

you  will  you  shall 

he  will  he  shall 

The  simple  future  is  used  when  things   are   merely  when  to 
going  to  happen,  as  in  I,  II,  III ;  the  future  of  volition,  future 
when  the  speaker  means  to  control  the  situation,  as  in 
IV,  V,  VI. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.    I   shall   (am  going   to)   do  my  shopping  this 
morning ;  the  weather  is  fine  and  I  have  the  necessary  leisure. 

II.  You  will  not  (are  not  going  to)  miss  the  train;  fifteen  min- 
utes is  time  enough  to  allow. 

III.  He  will  (is  going  to)  need  steady  training;  he  is  not  yet  in 
condition  to  play  with  the  team. 

IV.  I   will   do   my   shopping;    that   you   forbid   me   makes    no 
difference. 

107 


io8 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


V.  You  shall  go  with  your  sister;  it  is  not  safe  for  her  to  be 
unattended. 

VI.  It  is  not  easy  to  restrain  him,  but  he  shall  stay  indoors  this 
afternoon. 

EXERCISE 

Write  the  correct  auxiliary  for  each  blank  space  :  — 

1.  I go  to  the  exposition  ;  my  aunt  has  invited  me  to  accom- 
pany her  and  my  father  has  said  that  I  may  be  her  escort. 

2.  He be  glad,   some   day,  that  he  completed   his   school 

course  ;  for  the  years  will  prove  its  value. 

3.  I  accomplish   what    I    have   undertaken ;    I    am   deter- 
mined to,  no  matter  how  persistently  you  and  circumstances  oppose 
me. 

4.  That  dog be  rescued,  even  if  I  have  to  lose  a  day's  work 

to  get  him  out  of  his  dangerous  situation. 

5.  He  succeed:    he  has  integrity,  pluck,  intelligence,   and 

perseverance. 

6.  You not  do  that ;  I  forbid  you  even  to  attempt  doing  it. 


The  Future  in  Questions 

In  questions  with  the  future,  the  speaker  seems  to 
transfer  any  power  of  management  to  the  person  inter- 
rogated. If  will  is  expected  in  the  answer  to  one's 
inquiry,  one  says  amiably :  Will  he  do  it  ?  Will  you 
go?  etc.  If  shall  be  expected  in  the  answer,  one 
says :  Shall  he  go  ?  Shall  you  try  to  move  it  ?  etc. 
In  questions  of  the  first  person,  however,  shall  is 
almost  invariably  used,1  for  the  speaker  is  not  assum- 
ing authority. 

1  If  an  affirmative  statement  of  the  first  person  has  been  made,  an 
inquiry  that  follows,  and  seems  quoted  from,  that  statement  is  expressed 
with  will.  Example.  —  We  will  agree.  Will  we  not  ? 


THE   FUTURE   TENSE  109 

EXERCISE 

Write  the  correct  auxiliary  for  each  blank  space  in  the  follow- 
ing sentences  :  — 

1.  Question.  you  go  with  me?     Answer.  Yes,  I  will. 

2.  Q.  you  be  at  home  to-morrow  ?     Ans.  I  shall  be. 

3.  Q.  -    —  he  get  home  to-night?     Ans.  He  will. 

4.  Q.  -  —the  decorators  begin  work?     Ans.  They  shall. 

5.  -    —  we  start  at  ten  o'clock  ? 

6.    I  be  ready  at  one  o'clock  ? 

The  Future  in  Indirect  Discourse 

The  use  of  the  future  in  indirect  discourse  is  similar  when 
to  its  use  in  direct  discourse  (pages  107  and  108),  pro-  clause^0 
vided  the  subject  of    the   principal  clause  and  that  of 
the  noun  clause  represent  different  persons  or  things, 
Such  indirect  discourse  is  almost  direct. 

ILLUSTRATION 

"  The  coach  says  that  our  team  will  win  the  race." 
[In  the  preceding  sentence,  coach  is  the  subject  of  the  principal 
clause  and  team  of  the  subordinate  clause.  The  subjects  of  the  two 
clauses  represent  different  things ;  therefore,  the  same  future  (the 
simple  future)  is  required  that  would  be  needed  were  the  sentence 
written  with  direct  discourse,  thus,  "  The  coach  says,  '  Our  team 
will  win  the  race.'  "] 

When  in  indirect  discourse  the  subject  of  the  princi-  when  sub- 
pal  clause  and  that  of  the  noun  clause  represent  the 
same  person  or  thing,  a  different  future  is  required  from 
that  which  would  be  used  were  the  discourse  direct.  person  or 

thing 

ILLUSTRATION 

"  The  coach  promises  that  he  will  soon  have  the  team  in  good 
condition  for  the  race." 

[In  the   preceding  sentence,  coach  and  /te,  the  subjects  of  the 


no 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC  . 


clauses,  represent  the  same  person  ;  therefore,  the  future  (the  simple 
future)  is  not  what  would  be  used  were  its  indirect  form  changed  to 
the  direct.  Changed  to  direct  discourse,  the  sentence  would  read, 
"  The  coach  promises,  '  I  will  (future  of  volition)  soon  have  the  team 
in  good  condition  for  the  race.'  "] 

EXERCISE 

Write  the  correct  auxiliary  for  each  blank  space  in  the 
following  sentences  :  — 

I.  The  director  promises  that  the  orchestra  -  render  the  selec- 
tion you  asked  for.     (The  two  subjects  represent  different  things.) 

II.  The   workmen   declare   that   they  -  not   finish  their  job. 
(The  same  person  is  represented  by  the  subject  of  each  clause.) 

The  Future  in  Dependent  Clauses  not  Discourse 

Clauses  which  are  introduced  by  the  conjunction  that 

(expressed  or  understood),  and  which  are  not  discourse, 

require   the   same   auxiliary   for  the  future  tense  that 

would  be  used  if  the  clauses  were  independent  sentences. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  I  fear  that  he  will  not  come.  (Clause  as  sen- 
tence :  He  will  not  come.) 

II.  I  think  that  you  will  be  late.  (Clause  as  sentence:  You  will 
be  late.) 

In  all  subordinate  clauses  not  introduced  by  that, 
shall  is  used  in  the  simple  future  for  all  persons,  will 
in  the  future  of  volition,  for  all  persons. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  When  he  shall  appoint  the  day,  we  shall 
assemble. 

II.    If  you  will  join  us,  we  will  go. 


The  Futuye  Used  in  Giving  Directions 

The  future         Having   regard    for   the    feelings  of  a  person  in  an 
ordens11181      inferior  situation,  one  may  use  the  future  in  this  way  : 


Other  sub- 
ordinate 
clauses 
with  the 
future 


SHOULD   AND   WOULD  III 

"  You  will  see  that  coffee  is  served  at  ten."  One  need 
not  say,  "  You  shall  see  that  coffee  is  served."  The 
first  use  of  the  future  takes  acquiescence  for  granted, 
the  second  is  a  command. 

Should  and  Would 
Should -a^A.  would  (the  past  tenses  of  shall  and  will,  shouid&n& 

would  SLS 

in  form)  are  treated  like  shall  and  will  when  —  often  futures 
in  indirect  discourse — they  express  futurity  from  the 
standpoint  of  past  time. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  (Pure  future.)  The  guest  felt  that  he  would 
be  glad  to  stay  longer. 

II.  (Conditional  future.)  If  he  had  agreed  with  us,  our  plans 
would  have  been  carried  out. 

Should,  though  a  milder  expression  than  ought,  some-  other  uses 
times  conveys  about  the  same  meaning.     Should  may  and  u/ouid 
also  be  used  to  soften  what  would  otherwise  be  a  more 
or  less  emphatic  assertion. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.    He  should  (ought  to)  tell  you. 

II.    I  should  hardly  be  willing  to  uphold  that  statement. 

Would  may  denote  a  habit,  or  may  express  deter- 
mination, in  the  past. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  He  would  do  his  work,  every  day,  in  the  early 
morning. 

II.   Although  we  protested,  they  would  return. 

EXERCISE 
Insert  would  or  should,  as  required,  in  these  sentences  :  — 

1.  She  feared  that  she  —  —  be  late. 

2.  How  —  —  you  like  to  go  with  us  ? 


112  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

3.  They  thought  that  he  —  —  (ought  to)  go. 

4.  I  said  that  I  -   —  be  ready  to  join  the  party. 

5.  I  felt  that  it rain. 

6.  If  I  had  seen  her  I  —  —  have  told  her. 

The  Historic  Present  Tense  1 

Suppose  you  were  to  describe  for  your  classmates 
some  race  at  one  of  the  Olympic  games  in  the  year 
776  B.C.  For  you,  and  for  the  other  members  of  your 
class,  the  scene  of  the  contest  would  at  first  be  far  dis- 
tant, the  event  would  seem  remote.  It  would  be  natural 
to  use  the  past  tense  in  your  description.  But  take 
your  listeners  to  Greece,  re-create  for  them  the  Greek 
surroundings,  make  them  walk  through  the  streets  side 
by  side  with  eager  throngs  hurrying  to  the  games,  seat 
them  in  the  stadium,  interest  them  in  the  runners. 
Then,  as  the  race  begins,  induce  your  listeners  to  choose 
one  of  the  youths  for  their  favorite,  and,  as  the  contest 
in  speed  continues,  let  them  realize  that  a  slight  thing 
will  turn  the  scale  either  way  for  their  champion,  whose 
set  face  and  straining  muscles  show  the  effort  he  makes. 
Where  are  you  and  your  classmates  now,  in  America  or 
in  Greece  ?  At  what  period  of  time  are  you  living,  in 
the  twentieth  century  or  in  776  B.C.  ?  Could  you  be 
satisfied  to  say  at  this  crisis  "  He  faltered  "  ?  It  would 
be  absurd  to  do  that.  He  is  for  you.  He  is  before 
your  eyes.  He  falters  now  at  this  minute.  You  natu- 
rally and  correctly  use  the  present  tense  to  describe  a 

1  Some  of  the  best  teachers  and  writers  discourage  the  use  of  the  historic 
present  tense. 


TENSES  113 

past  event,  because  you  have  made  that  event  a  present 
one  for  your  listeners. 

Soon,  in  spite  of  his  momentary  faltering,  your  run- 
ner wins  and  receives  the  laurel.  The  strain  is  over, 
yonr  emotion  subsides,  you  breathe  a  sigh  of  relief  and 
sink  back  —  to  find  yourself  no  longer  in  the  stadium  at 
Greece,  but  in  your  own  classroom.  If  you  continue 
your  narration,  you  will  return  to  the  past  tense,  for  no 
longer  are  Greece  and  the  runner  so  absorbing  you  that 
you  live  in  that  foreign  land  and  time.  The  use  of  the  HOW  long 
historic  present  tense  continues  only  so  long  as  the  emo-  continue1*5 
tion  and  interest  of  the  writer  and  reader,  or  hearer, 
demand  it. 

In  coming  exercises,  opportunity  will  be  given  for 
practice  in  the  use  of  the  historic  present  tense. 

Sequence  of  Tenses 

"  She  wished  last  fall  to  have  entered  college "  is 
incorrect.  The  error  in  the  preceding  sentence  is  owing 
to  the  writer's  failure  to  realize  that  the  wishing  was 
done  in  the  fall.  In  the  fall,  she  wished  to  enter,  not 
to  have  entered.  "  I  should  have  liked  to  have  gone  to 
the  theatre  yesterday  "  should  read,  "  I  should  have  liked 
to  go  to  the  theatre  yesterday."  Yesterday  —  the  time 
when  the  desire  was  felt  —  the  desire  was  to  go,  not  to 
have  gone.  "  I  had  hoped  that  he  would  have  lectured  " 
is  a  misstatement,  because  one  hopes  for  what  has  not 
yet  come ;  have  should  be  omitted,  since  hope  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  past.  The  sentence  should  read  : 


114  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

The  time      "I  had  hoped  that  he  would  lecture."     In  each  of  the 
cases  cited,  no  fault  would  have  been  committed   had 


verbor  verbs    ,,  .,.,..  .  ,          .  r    ,  . 

determines  the  writer  lived  in  imagination  at  the  time  of  his  pnn- 
nate'tenXs"  ciPal  tense-  There  need  be  no  trouble  about  the 
sequence  of  tenses  if  one  will  live  for  a  moment  in 
the  time  indicated  by  the  principal  tense,  whether  that 
time  is  to-day,  to-morrow,  or  a  century  ago.  Subordi- 
nate tenses  are  written  correctly  if  the  time  represented 
by  the  principal  verb  or  verbs  is  kept  in  mind. 

EXERCISE 

Correct  the  following  sentences;    give  a  reason  for   each 
correction  :  — 

1.  The  girls  would  have  liked  to  have  sung  in  the  chorus. 

2.  I  shall  be  glad  to  accept  your  invitation  for  Tuesday  afternoon. 
[When  writing  the  acceptance  one  is  glad  or  one  will  be  glad?] 

3.  To-day,  he  will  be  twenty  years  old. 

4.  Last  Friday,  I  meant  to  have  sent  that  box  away. 

5.  He  wished  that  he  might  have  heard  the  concert. 

6.  I  thought  the  man  would  have  fallen. 


CHAPTER   XIII 
THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE 

WHEN  asked  the  secret  of  his  style,  Hawthorne  re- 
plied, that  it  was  the  result  of  a  great  deal  of  practice 
and  that  it  came  from  the  desire  to  tell  the  simple  truth 
as  honestly  and  as  vividly  as  he  could.1 

Original  composition  is  the  expression  of  one's  self  Honesty 
—  not  any  other   self  —  in  words ;  therefore,  a   writer  famous 
that  takes  pains  to  be  honest1  will  gradually  and  natu-  style 
rally  develop  a  way  of  writing  characteristic  of  himself, 
will  come  into  the  possession  of  his  own  style,  or  man- 
ner of  expression.     Every  writer,  however,  has  to  con-  Qualities  of 
sider  these  general  qualities  of  style  :  clearness,  rapidity, 
emphasis,  smoothness,  force,  and  life. 

Clearness 
Clearness  is  the  quality  of  style  that  is  always  essen-  clearness 

.  .  .         always 

tial.     A  sentence,  a  paragraph,  or  a  longer  composition  essential 
cannot  be  appreciated  and  enjoyed  unless  its  thought  is 
comprehended.     A  writer  or  speaker  should  so  express 
himself  that  he  cannot  be  misunderstood. 

Since  clearness  is  essential  in  all  writing,  it  has  been 

1  Bliss  Perry's  "  The  Centenary  of  Hawthorne."  The  Atlantic  Monthly, 
August,  1904. 

"5 


u6 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Know  what 
you  think 

Observe 
unity 


necessary  to  refer  to  it  repeatedly  in  the  preceding 
pages  ;  as  a  consequence,  its  presentation  in  this  place 
as  one  of  the  qualities  of  style  must  be  in  the  nature  of 
a  review. 

Ways  of  Gaining  Clearness 

Think  clearly,  use  words  exactly  (page  74),  and  thus 
avoid  vagueness  of  expression. 

Observe  unity.  Have  a  definite  thought  for  each 
sentence,  a  definite  topic  for  each  paragraph,  and  a 
definite  theme  for  each  entire  composition. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Define  unity  as  applied  to  the  sentence  (page  14),  the 
paragraph  (page  8),  the  entire  composition  (page  6). 

II.  State  topics  for  three  successive  paragraphs  about  one 
of  the  following  themes  :  — 

1.  What  Happened  at  the  Street  Watering-Trough. 

2.  What  Most  Interested  Me  in  the  Printing-Office  of  a  Daily 
Newspaper. 

3.  The  Abandoned  Mill. 

4.  How  I  Came  upon  the  Gypsies. 

5.  An  Hour  in  a  Factory. 

6.  Building  and  Launching  the  Big  Raft. 

7.  Gathering  Walnuts. 

8.  A  Legend  of  our  Neighborhood. 

9.  Racing  with  the  Storm. 

III.  Write  a  paragraph  about  the  first  topic  given  in  answer 
to  requirement   II.      State   the   subject   of  thought   in   each 
sentence  of  the  paragraph. 

Arrange-  Words  should  be  carefully  arranged  as  well  as  wisely 

relationship  selected,  and  the  relationship  of  one  word  to  another 
should  be  evident  (page  28). 


THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE  117 

Give    a    similar     form     to     expressions    of     similar  similar 

import  (page    30).  expressions 

EXERCISES 
T.    Make  a  list  of  the  similar  expressions  in  i  and  in  2. 

1.  It  was  the  completes!  and  most  desirable  bedroom  ever  seen  : 
with  a  little  window  where  the  rudder  used  to  go  through ;  a  little 
looking-glass  just  the  right  height  for  me,  nailed  against  the  wall 
and  framed  with  oyster  shells;    a  little  bed  which    there  was  just 
room  enough  to  get  into,  and  a  nosegay  of  seaweed  in  a  blue  mug 
on  the  table. 

2.  If  you  think  of  glory  in  the  field;  of  wisdom  in  the  cabinet; 
of  the  purest  patriotism  ;  of  the  highest  integrity,  public  and  pri- 
vate ;  of  morals  without  a  stain  ;  of  religious  feelings  without  intoler- 
ance, and  without  extravagance,  —  the  august  figure  of  Washington 
presents  itself  as  the  personation  of  all  these  ideas. 

II.  Give  a  similar  form  (the  infinitive)  to  expressions  in 
the  following  quotation  that  are  alike  in  significance  and  note 
the  consequent  gain  in  clearness.  The  expressions  to  be 
changed  are  underscored. 

"  What  is  it  to  be  a  gentleman?  Is  it  to  have  lofty  aims,  leading 
a  pure  life,  keeping  your  honor  virgin;  to  have  the -esteem  of  your 
fellow-citizens,  and  the  love  of  your  fireside ;  bearing  good  fortune 
meekly;  suffering  evil  with  constancy;  and  through  evil  or  good  to 
maintain  truth  always?" 

Whenever  it  is  possible  to  do  so,  put  modifiers  next  Place  lor 
the  words  they  modify  (page  27). 

Be  sure  that  reference  words  —  especially  personal,   Provide 
relative,    and    demonstrative    pronouns — have   antece-  a 
dents.     Make  the   antecedent  prominent.     An   antece- 
dent is  not  prominent  if  it  is  in   the    possessive  case. 

Be  careful  about  the  use  of  he  and  one  in  the  same  useof/>e 
sentence  (page  69).  ando<" 


Il8 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Principals 

for  partici- 

pies 


use  connec 

lives  care- 

fully 
Pairs  of 

correlative 

words 


Avoid  the 

use  of  am- 

biguousex- 


Express  ail 

that  is 

needed 


Express  a  principal  for  a  participle.     The  subject  of 

• 

the  sentence  is  the  principal  for  an  introductory  parti- 
cipial phrase  (page  69). 

Use  judgment  in  selecting  words    that   connect   or 

,      .  .        ,  , 

show  relationship  (pages  28  and  29). 

When  using  the  correlatives  either  —  or,  or  neitJier  — 
nor,  or  both  —  ana,  remember  to  place  either,  nor,  or 
both  immediately  before  the  first  of  the  two  expressions 
connected  by  the  conjunctions  or,  nor,  or  and.  (Refer  to 
page  28.) 

When  a  word  is  ambiguous,  —  that  is,  when  it  may 

,  .,  .  ..-,  .,  ,  ., 

have  more  than  one  meaning,  —  either  use  it  so  skil- 
fully that  it  can  convey  only  the  meaning  you  intend, 
or  avoid  its  use. 

EXAMPLE.  —  "  He  had  a  certain  skill  "  may  mean  "  He  had  a 
kind  of  skill  "  or  "  He  had  an  assured  skill." 

[Substitute  for  certain  a  word  of  less  doubtful  meaning.] 

Use  no  superfluous  words,  but  omit  from  the  sentence 

.     .  , 

notnmg  that  is  required  for  the  clear  expression  of  its 
thought  (page  71). 

EXERCISES 

I.  Review  the    pages  referred   to   in   the   parentheses   on 
pages  117  and  118. 

II.  Rewrite   the   following   sentences  ;    improve   them   by 
placing  the  underscored  modifiers  next  their  principals. 

1.  Prudence   is    necessary   to    overcome    obstacles    as   well   as 
courage. 

2.  There  was  a  black  barge  not  far  off,  with  an  iron  funnel  stick- 
ing out  of  it  for  a  chimney  and  smoking  very  cosily,  or  some  other 
kind  of  superannuated  boat. 


THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE  119 

3.  I  afterwards  found  that  a  heap  of  these  lobsters,  crabs,  and 
crawfish  were  usually  to  be  found  in  a  little  wooden  house  where 
the  pots  and  kettles  were  kept,  in  a  state  of  wonderful  conglomera- 
tion with  one  another,  and  never  leaving  off  pinching  whatever  they 
laid  hold  of. 

4.  Speak  for  the  principles  of  peace  and  love,  not  against. 

III.  Reconstruct  i  and  2 ;    make  the  pronoun  references 
evident. 

1.  Parliament  should  not   impose   taxes   on   the   Colonies,  but 
should  give  them  what  they  ask  for,  not  something   they  think  is 
better  for  them. 

2.  He  told  his  friend  that,  if  he  did  not  feel  better  in  half  an 
hour,  he  should  send  for  a  doctor. 

Make  the  antecedent  of  w/io,  in  3,  more  prominent. 

3.  We  meet  at  Mr.  Brown's  house,  who  is  our  president. 

Reconstruct  4 ;  express  an  antecedent  for  the  last  it. 

4:    Macbeth  also  planned,  but  if  it  had  not  been  for  Lady  Mac- 
beth he  probably  would  not  have  carried  it  out. 

IV.  Supply  the  proper  correlative  as  required.     (Refer  to 
page  29.) 

1.  As  virtue  is  its  own  reward vice  is  its  own  punishment. 

2.  It  was  beautifully  clean  inside,  and  as  tidy possible. 

3.  Scarcely  had  he  gone  from  the  room I  discovered  the  tes- 
timonial he  so  much  needed. 

4.  This  picture  is  quite  different  —  —  that. 

5.  Do  not  spend  more  time  —  —  is  required. 

6.  Seldom  if  —  —  have  we  had  such  a  storm. 

7.  They  were  neither  hospitable courteous. 

8.  It  is  such  a  sky one  sees  in  the  tropics. 

V.  Write   an   original   sentence   in  which  the   correlatives 
not  only,  but  also  are  used  correctly.     (Refer  to  page  28.) 


I2O 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Need  of  a 
vocabulary 
and  knowl- 
edge of  the 
construc- 
tion of 
sentences 


How  to  gain 
rapidity 


Epithets 
are  useful 


Choose 
general 
terms 


VI.    Reconstruct  the  following  sentence  ;  eliminate  ones :  — 

The  obedient  states  will  be  taxed  heavily  and  disobedient  ones 
will  not  be  affected. 

To  write  so  that  one's  meaning  cannot  be  misunder- 
stood requires  knowledge  of  words  and  of  the  construc- 
tion of  sentences.  Therefore,  when  the  study  of  rhetoric 
is  taken  up,  one  finds  the  dictionary  and  the  grammar 
becoming  more  interesting  and  useful  than  they  have 
been  before. 

Chapter  XV  considers  the  gaining  of  clearness  by 
means  of  plans  and  outlines. 

Rapidity 

It  is  often  necessary  to  refer  to  details,  yet  desirable 
to  pass  over  them  quickly ;  it  is  often  necessary  to  give 
preliminary  matter,  yet  desirable  to  move  rapidly  onward 
to  a  main  point.  In  such  cases,  there  are  several  ways 
of  giving  lightness  and  swiftness  (rapidity)  to  one's 
composition.  One  may  use:  — 

I.  Epithets  (page    82)  whenever   they  may  be    sat- 
isfactorily    substituted     for    longer     expressions.       In 
"Lycidas"  Milton  writes  of    "mitred  locks,"  of  "the 
gadding   vine,"  of    "joyous    leaves."     One  less  skilful 
might  have  used  longer  expressions  :  "  locks  on  which 
the  mitre   was  placed,"  "the  vine  running  hither  and 
thither   without   purpose,"    "  leaves   fluttering   as    with 
joy." 

II.  General,  comprehensive  terms,  rather  than  par- 
ticular,   specific    expressions   (page    78).      The   former 


THE   QUALITIES    OF   STYLE  121 

include  more  than  the  latter  do,  and  are,  as  a  conse- 
quence, .more  rapid. 

EXAMPLE.  —  "In  boyhood,  through  youth,  and  during  his  prime, 
he  had  been  upright."  A  more  rapid  statement  would  be :  Dur- 
ing his  entire  life  he  had  been  upright. 

III.    Substitutes  for  heavy  relative  clauses.     Some-  seekiighter 

times  a  participial  or  adverbial  phrase    may   be   used  for  relative 

instead  of  a  relative  clause  ;    sometimes  an  appositive  clav 
may  take  its  place. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  "We  stand  on  the  place  on  which  the  patriot 
stood''  might  be  made  more  rapid  in  this  way:  We  stand  where 
the  patriot  stood. 

II.  "  The  youngest  man,  who  is  third  in  rank,  is  said  to  be  the 
bravest "  might  be  expressed  thus :  The  youngest  man,  the  third  in 
rank,  is  said  to  be  the  bravest. 

III.  To  gain  rapidity  in  the  sentence,  "The  gale  which  raged 
around  us  made  our  situation  dangerous,"  raging  might  be  substitu- 
ted for  which  raged. 

A  subordinate  clause  is  most  rapidly  passed  over  if  it  placing  of 
be  within  the  sentence,  for  at  the  beginning  or  end  of  the  clauses 
sentence  it  becomes  prominent  and  is  not  swiftly  read. 

EXAMPLE.  —  In  the  sentence,  "  He  may,  if  he  is  industrious,  suc- 
ceed in  winning  his  diploma,"  the  subordinate  clause  is  lightly  passed 
over.  Were  it  in  a  more  conspicuous  place,  —  at  the  beginning  or 
end  of  the  sentence,  —  there  would  be  a  loss  in  rapidity. 

[Test  the  statement  just  made.  Read  the  quoted  sentence  aloud  ; 
then  read  it  with  its  subordinate  clause  transposed.] 

The  omission  of   connectives   gives   both    force  and  omission 

of  con- 
rapidity,  nectives 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  One  stick,  pointed,  makes  him  a  spear;  two 
sticks  rubbed  together  make  him  a  fire ;  fifty  sticks  tied  together 
make  him  a  house. 


122  PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 

II.    Eleven  men  of  England  a  breastwork  charged  in  vain ; 
Eleven  men  of  England  lie  stripped  and  gashed  and  slain. 

Because  in  II  no  connective  for  the  two  clauses  is 
expressed,  the  action  represented  by  the  first  clause 
seems  very  swiftly  followed  by  its  result  described  in 
the  second.  Connectives  are  used  after  stripped  and 
gashed  because  it  is  desirable  to  give  the  reader  time 
to  get  the  details  of  the  picture. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Reconstruct  the  following  sentences  ;  try  to  gain  rapidity. 
Use  adjectives  for  the  subordinate  clauses  in  i  and  3,  an  apposi- 
tive  for  the  relative  clause  in  2,  and  participial  expressions  for 
the  relative  clauses  in  5.     Condense  covered  with  grass  in  4. 

1.  He  saw  in  the  thicket  a  bird,  the  color  of  which  was  bright 
yellow. 

2.  The  general,  who  was  a  man  of  action,  ordered  his  troops  to  a 
second  attack. 

3.  The  wood  was  covered  with  underbrush  that  was  thick  and 
matted. 

4.  They  travelled  slowly  along  a  steep,  narrow  byway  covered 
with  grass. 

5.  Jack,  who  was  riding  toward  his  sister,  saw  the  danger  that 
threatened  her. 

II.  Discuss  the  following  work  with  reference  to  the  rapidity 
of  its  expressions  :  — 

i.  A  crash  in  the  thicket ;  a  whir  of  wings  ;  the  bark  of  a  gun ; 
a  dark  mass  of  feathers  fluttering  to  the  ground  :  the  first  quail  of 
the  season,  gentlemen. 

[Should  the  preceding  sentence  be  criticised  because  it  has  no 
predicate  expressed  ?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer.  Give  a 
reason  for  the  use  of  the  colon  and  the  semicolons  in  i.] 


THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE 


123 


2.     ESCAPE  OF  A  PRISONER 

The  last  bar  breaks,  the  prisoner  slips  through  and  dashes  off  to 
the  forest.  Over  stumps  and  rocks  he  goes.  A  bullet  whizzes  by  ; 
he  knows  he  is  pursued  and  quickens  his  pace.  He  hears  shouts. 
Faster  and  faster  he  races  ;  the  voices  grow  louder.  Surely  he  will 
reach  the  camp?  They  are  gaining.  He  rushes  onward;  of  what 
use  to  be  a  swift  runner  if  he  cannot  escape?  The  camp  must  be 
near.  He  stumbles,  falls,  regains  his  feet  and  races  on  again.  They 
are  almost  upon  him.  One  minute  more  —  and  he  is  safe  !  He  strains 
every  nerve  and  reaches  the  camp,  where,  among  his  friends,  he  is  safe. 
[The  last  sentence  should  be  the  climax  of  the  paragraph.  Is  it? 
Try  omitting  the  last  sentence.  Does  the  paragraph  then  have  a 
worthy  climax?  Is  he  is  safe  needed  in  the  last  sentence?] 

III.  Write  a  paragraph  about  one  of  the  following  topics  ; 
utilize  what  has  been  learned  about  the  quality  of  style  called 
rapidity:  — 

1.  The  directions  given  to  his  clerk  by  a  manager  called  away 
hurriedly. 

2.  The  runaway  locomotive. 

3.  The  whirlwind. 

4.  Coasting  on  a  bicycle. 

5.  A  description  of  an  object  passed  too  swiftly  for  its  details  to 
be  observed. 

IV.  Write  a  one-minute  speech  in   defence  of  something 

dear  to  you. 

Emphasis 

Emphasis  is  a  matter  of  arrangement.  Expressions 
become  noticeable,  and  therefore  emphatic,  when  they 
are  not  in  their  natural  order. 

As  a  rule,  adjectives  and  adverbs  are  emphatic  if 
placed  after  the  words  they  modify. 

,.,,,.,,  .      . 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  She  was  a  child,  bright,  sweet,  winning. 

II.  He  turned  the  pages  rapidly. 


HOW  to 


HOW  to 
adjective6 

or  adverb 


124 


PRINCIPLES    OF    RHETORIC 


The  inverted  sentence  order  emphasizes  subject  or 
predicate. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  Next  appeared  the  chariot  of  the  conqueror. 

II.  Rushed  they  to  right  and  left. 

[Note  that  in  I  the  subject,  rather  than  the  predicate,  becomes 
emphatic  ;  while  in  II  the  predicate,  rather  than  the  subject,  receives 
the  emphasis.  Whether  subject  or  predicate  is  emphasized  depends 
somewhat  upon  the  relative  importance  of  what  each  expresses.  In 
I,  for  instance,  the  chariot  claims  attention,  while  in  II  the  rushing 
movement  is  especially  significant.] 

Subordinate  clauses  are  emphatic  if  they  come  at  the 
end  of  the  sentence  ;  that  is  a  prominent  position  for 
them  to  occupy.  The  most  conspicuous  parts  of  the 
sentence  are  the  beginning  and  the  end. 

EXAMPLE.  —  He  passed  much  of  his  time  in  his  gardens,  which 
he  had  stored  with  the  rarest  plants. 

A  series  of  expressions  in  which  each  member  of  the 
series  is  more  important  than  the  preceding,  has  a 
gathering  emphasis  that  culminates  with  the  last  of 
the  series.  Such  an  arrangement,  illustrated  in  the  fol- 
lowing example,  is  called  a  climax. 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  Sir,  the  venerable  age  of  this  great  man,  his 
merited  rank,  his  superior  eloquence,  his  splendid  qualities,  his 
eminent  services  .  .  .  will  not  suffer  me  to  censure  any  part  of 
his  conduct. 

II.  Each  ounce  of  dross  costs  its  ounce  of  gold; 

For  a  cap  and  bells  our  lives  we  pay. 
Bubbles  we  buy  with  a  whole  soul's  tasking. 

The  thought  in  a  sentence  is  emphasized  if  the  sen- 
tence be  periodic  in  form  (page  44),  because  the  read- 
er's interest  in  the  thought  grows  throughout  the 
sentence. 


THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE  125 

EXERCISES 

I.  Is  the  desired  emphasis  gained  in  each  of  the  following 
sentences?     Give  a  reason  for  each  answer. 

1.  Adjective  emphasized:  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  said  he  was 
incapable  of  the  art  epistolary. 

2.  Adverb   emphasized :  Innocently  Simple  Simon  stood  before 
the  pieman. 

[Note  that  the  adverb  in  2  is  emphatic  because  put  before  the 
subject.     Such  an  arrangement  is  not  usual.] 

3.  Adjectives  emphasized :   She  flashed  a  look  reproachful,  hurt, 
almost  accusing. 

4.  Adverbs  emphasized :   Away  sped  the  champion,  swiftly,  buoy- 
antly, straight  across  the  field. 

5.  Subject  and  subordinate  clause  emphasized  :    Down,  down  went 
the  bucket,  its  iron  bands  clanging  as  it  bounded  from  side  to  side. 

6.  Predicate  emphasized  :   Humiliated,  crushed,  was  he. 

II.  Write  sentences  in  which  are  emphasized:    (i)   an  ad- 
jective;    (2)   an  adverb;    (3)    a   subordinate   clause;    (4)  a 
subject;   (5)  a  predicate;   (6)   the  thought  conveyed  by  the 
sentence. 

What  type  of  sentence  is  needed  to  fulfil  the  requirement 
of  II,  6? 

III.  Write  a  sentence  in  natural  order,  about  the  lights  of 
a  city  seen  from  a  train  or  from  a  window,  or  about  the  lights 
of  a  village  viewed  from  a  hilltop.     So  reconstruct  your  sen- 
tence that  its  subject  will  be  emphasized. 

IV.  Write  a  short  paragraph  about  "  What  I  think  of  when 
I  see  the  Stars  and  Stripes  "  ;  have  at  least  one  of  the  sentences 
in  natural  order   with  an  adjective  or  an  adverbial  modifier. 
Rewrite  the  sentence  just  referred  to  ;  so  change  it  that  the 
adjective  or  adverbial  modifier  will  become  emphatic. 

V.  Write  a  descriptive  sentence  about  an  object ;  use  modi- 
fiers arranged  as  a  climax. 


126 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


How  to 
detect  what 
is  not 

smooth 


Kinds  of 
repetition 
to  be 
avoided 


How  to 
obtain 
smoothness 
if  it  be 
lacking 


Smoothness 

If  work  be  read  aloud,  the  trained  or  sensitive  ear  will 
detect  expressions  that  are  not  smooth.  Since  each 
writer  must  become  his  own  critic,  a  good  ear  is  as  nec- 
essary to  the  writer  as  it  is  to  the  musician. 

Too  frequent  or  too  regular  a  repetition  of  sound 
becomes  wearisome. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  These  men  usually  used  their  sharpness  at  the  expense  of  the 
poor  farmers. 

II.  Hot  work  there  was  then  for  Robin  and  his  men. 

III.  And  he  curbed  his  steed  to  a  stately  step  as  he  entered  the 
town. 

IV.  These  sounds  soon  soothed  my  ears. 

V.  Judiciously  show  a  dog  his  natural  prey,  if  you  wish  him  to 
bring  it  down  one  day. 

-VI.  I  took  one  blissful  mouthful. 

VII.  Nancy,  wishing  no  help  from  him,  jumped  from  her  horse 
and  repaired  to  the  dressing-room,  where  she  prepared  for  the  even- 
ing entertainment. 

The  substitution  of  synonyms  (page  84)  or  changes 
in  construction  will  probably  enable  one  to  give  smooth- 
ness to  sentences  like  those  quoted  above. 

EXERCISES 

Refer  to  the  preceding  illustrations. 

I.  Rewrite  I ;  avoid  the  use  of  so  many  sjs  and  of  usually 
before  used, 

II.  Rewrite   I,    III,   IV ;    reduce   the  number   of    hissing 
sounds. 

III.  Reconstruct   II,   V,   VII ;    overcome  the  too   regular 
repetition  of  sound  in  the  underscored  words. 


THE   QUALITIES    OF    STYLE  127 

IV.  Rewrite  VI ;  avoid  the  unnecessary  repetition  of  the 
syllable  ful.     There  is  a  violation  of  precision   (page  74)    in 
VI.     What  is  it?     Correct  VI. 

V.  Is  the    following  from  "Macbeth"    smooth?      Give   a 

reason  for  your  answer. 

.  .  .  and  catch 
With  his  surcease,  success. 

Combinations  of  letters  that  form  harsh  or  displeas-  Avoid  harsh 
ing  sounds  are  to  be  avoided,  provided  smoothness  is  the  turns  of  let- 
main  object  sought.     If  one  were  considering  the  first 
sentence  in  this  paragraph  with  reference  to  smoothness 
alone,  one  would  criticise  the  use  of  "  harsh  sounds," 
because  of  the  s  following  the  sJi.      One  would   not,  smoothness 

...,..,,  , .  .     not  always 

however,  criticise  the  following  line,  though  the  repeti-  desirable 
tion  of    s    and  til  makes  the    passage  difficult  to  read 
aloud  :  — 

"  Nor  lose  the  wrestling  thews  that  throw  the  world." 1 

The  line  seems  to  express  the  effort  of  a  wrestler,  as 
it  was  meant  to  do.2 

Accents  should  not  recur  too  regularly,  as  in  II  and  Avoid  a 

too  regular 
III,  page   120.  recurrence 

The  succeeding  paragraph  is  monotonous  because  of 
the  regular  recurrence  of  the  conditional  clause  :  - — 

The  great  door  of  the  house  opened  wide  before  her,  as  if  the, 
whole  future  must  have  room  to  enter ;  old  Rodney,  the  house  ser- 
vant, stood  within,  as  if  he  had  been  watching  for  succor.  In  the 
spacious  hall  the  portraits  looked  proud  and  serene,  as  if  they  were 
still  capable  of  all  hospitalities  save  that  of  speech. 

1  Tennyson's  "  The  Princess,"  Part  VII. 

2  "The  Expressive  Power  of  English  Sounds,"  by  Albert  H.  Tolman. 


128  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

Especially         Liquid  consonants  and  broad  vowel  sounds  are  es- 
sounds         pecially  pleasing  to  the  ear.     There  are  many  in  the 
following  lines :  — 

Lying  robed  in  snowy  white 
That  loosely  flew  to  left  and  right  — 
The  leaves  upon  her  falling  light  — 
Thro1  the  noises  of  the  night 

She  floated  down  to  Camelot. 
And  as  the  boat-head  wound  along 
The  willowy  hills  and  fields  among, 
They  heard  her  singing  her  last  song, 

The  Lady  of  Shalott.1 

EXERCISES 

I.  Find  a  smooth  and  musical  passage  in  Irving's  descrip- 
tion of  the  organ  in  Westminster  Abbey  ("  The  Sketch  Book"), 
in  the  last  two  pages  of  De  Quincey's  "  Joan  of  Arc,"  in  Ten- 
nyson's "  The  Passing  of  Arthur  "  or  "  Launcelot  and  Elaine  " 
("Idylls  of  the  King"),  in  Chapters  ii,  xi,  or  xii  of  "Silas 
Marner,"  in  "  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  or  in  some  other 
English  classic. 

II.  Consider  the  following  paragraph  with  reference  to  its 
smoothness  :  — 

All  was  quiet,  as  the  slowly  gliding  stream  bore  us  gently  on 
its  mirrorlike  surface.  The  current  flowed  smoothly  round  the 
mossy  points  of  land,  thickly  wooded.  Great  willow  trees  hung  their 
long  silvery  leaves  over  the  clear  cool  water. 

[Would  the  preceding  sentence  gain  in  smoothness  if  the  were 
omitted  before  mossy  ?~\ 

III.  Write  briefly  —  from  one  to  three  paragraphs  —  about 
one  of  the  following  subjects.     Read  your  work  aloud,  to  test 
it  for  smoothness. 

1  Tennyson's  "  The  Lady  of  Shalott." 


THE    QUALITIES   OF    STYLE  129 

1.  The  Stealing  on  of  Twilight. 

2.  My  Disturbance  was  Quieted  when  I  Felt  my  Father's  Hand 
Clasp  mine  Reassuringly. 

3.  How  the  Mist  Disappears. 

4.  A  Selection  from  Mendelssohn's  "  Songs  without  Words." 

5.  An  Hour  during  the  Last  of  the  Summer. 

[One  might  write  of  an  afternoon  in  a  garden,  on  a  city  square, 
in  a  boat,  on  a  balcony,  or  in  the  woods.] 

6.  A  Calm  Night. 

Force 

The  word  force  as  used  in  rhetoric  means  energy  and 
strength. 

That  condensing  of  phrases  and  clauses  which  gives  Force  and 

r  i  rapidity 

rapidity  to  written  work  gives  force  also. 

An  unmodified  noun  retains  its  full  meaning,  being  Removal  of 
unrestricted,  unlimited.     To  call  one  a  woman  is  to  give 
her  all  the  attributes  of  womanhood  ;  to  call  one  a  brave 
woman  or  a  good  woman  is  to  ascribe  to  her  only  a  single  Modifiers 
attribute  of  womanhood,  that  of  bravery  or  of  goodness,  needed 
Modifiers  are  often  necessary,  however. 

EXERCISE 

In   the  following  quoted  sentence  is  it  desirable  to  omit 
pretty  before  stagger  ?     Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

"Presently  she  slipped  from  his  knee  and  began  to  toddle  about, 
but  with  a  pretty  stagger  that  made  Silas  jump  up  and  follow  her." 

When  two  expressions  are  contrasted,  force  may  be  Howtogive 
gained  if  no  connective  is  used  between  them.     Nothing 
then  intervenes  to  lessen  the  sharpness  of  the  contrast. 

[Antonyms  (page  85)  may  help  to  bring  out  a  contrast.] 


130  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


EXERCISE 

From  the  following  quoted  sentence  but  might  be  omitted. 
Would  the  omission  of  that  word  add  force  to  the  contrast  ? 

The  gold  had  asked  that  he  should  sit  weaving  longer  and  longer, 
deafened  and  blinded  more  and  more  to  all  things  except  the  mo- 
notony of  his  loom  and  the  repetition  of  his  web ;  but  Eppie  called 
him  away  from  his  weaving,  and  made  him  think  all  its  pauses  a 
holiday,  reawakening  his  senses  with  her  fresh  life,  even  to  the  old 
winter  flies  that  carhe  crawling  forth  in  the  early  spring  sunshine, 
and  warming  him  into  joy  because  she  had  joy. 

Abrupt  When  mere    abrupt  force  —  not   necessarily   a   con- 

forcefulness 

trast  —  is  sought,  connectives  should  be  omitted  if  they 
are  not  needed  for  clearness.  The  omission  of  connec- 
tives from  the  following  stanza  of  "  The  Vision  of  Sir 
Launfal  "  gives  cumulative  force  to  the  enumeration  :  — 

Earth  gets  its  price  for  what  Earth  gives  us ; 

The  beggar  is  taxed  for  a  corner  to  die  in, 
The  priest  hath  his  fee  who  comes  and  shrives  us, 

We  bargain  for  the  graves  we  lie  in ; 
At  the  devil's  booth  are  all  things  sold, 
Each  ounce  of  dross  costs  its  ounce  of  gold  ; 

For  a  cap  and  bells  our  lives  we  pay, 
Bubbles  we  buy  with  a  whole  soul's  tasking  : 

'Tis  heaven  alone  that  is  given  away, 
'Tis  only  God  may  be  ha/1  for  the  asking; 

No  price  is  set  on  the  lavish  summer; 

June  may  be  had  by  the  poorest  comer. 

value  of  Plain   words    are  likely  to   be  forceful.      The   ideas 

which  they  convey  are  readily  grasped  by  most  readers. 

value  of  Specific  words  (page  78)  give  force  to  an  impres- 

words          sion  ;  they  enable  reader  or  hearer  to  gain  definite  ideas. 


THE   QUALITIES   OF  STYLE  131 

Specific  words   will  be  found  especially  useful  if   one 
wishes  to  reproduce  a  scene  or  an  event. 

EXAMPLE.  —  The  general  terms  animal,  ate,  and  vegetables  in  the 
expression,  "  The  animals  ate  vegetables,"  give  only  a  general  notion 
of  what  was  done  ;  but  the  specific  terms  rabbits,  nibbled,  and  lettuce 
leaves  in  the  sentence,  "The  rabbits  nibbled  lettuce  leaves,"  make  a. 
picture. 

EXERCISES 

Change  each  of  the  following  general  statements  into  one 
more  specific.  Name  the  constellation  referred  to  in  i,  and 
use  a  verb  that  expresses  some  special  kind  of  brightness ; 
designate  the  craft,  the  birds,  the  men,  the  sounds  mentioned 
in  2,  3,  4,  and  5,  and  find  more  specific  predicates  for  them ; 
substitute  for  trees t  place,  and  neighborhood,  in  3,  4,  and  5, 
words  that  are  more  definite. 

1 .  The  constellation  looked  bright. 

2.  The  craft  began  to  move. 

3.  Birds  flew  among  the  trees. 

4.  Men  went  from  place  to  place. 

5.  Sounds  were  heard  in  the  neighborhood. 

Epithets    (page    82)    add    to   force    as    well    as    to  Epithets 

.  ,.  forceful 

rapidity. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  a  paragraph  about  one  of  the  subjects  in  the  follow- 
ing list.  If  possible,  so  alter  the  subject  you  choose  that  it 
will  be  definite  and  will  accord  with  your  own  experience. 

1.  Our  Victory. 

2.  Our  Defeat. 

3.  We  Free  our  Companions. 

4.  What  the  Flood  Swept  Down. 

5.  My  Fall. 

6.  How  the  Herd  Stampeded. 


132 


PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 


9- 
10. 


Our  Snowball  Fight. 

The  Crew  Pulled  against  Tide  and  Wind. 

How  the  Rider  Caught  the  Runaway. 

The  Announcement  of  the  Election  Returns. 


n.    Pulling  in  the  Big  Fish. 

II.  Revise  the  paragraph  written  in  response  to  I ;  improve 
it,  if  possible,  with  regard  to  rapidity  and  force.  Give  a  reason 
for  each  change  made  in  the  revision. 


The  vital 
quality  of 
style 


Figures  of 

speech 

useful 


Useful 
classes  of 
words 

Historical 
allusions 


Life 

Life  is  the  vital  quality  of  style.  It  is  a  man's  con- 
viction and  feeling  permeating  his  work.  Although 
rules  cannot  give  life,  they  may  aid  those  who  seek  to 
acquire  it. 

Figures  of  speech  (page  86)  give  vividness  and  life, 
because  they  bring  out  one's  meaning  with  remarkable, 
sometimes  with  startling,  clearness. 

Imitative  words,  specific  words,  and  epithets  add  life 
to  expression. 

Historical  allusions  do  much  in  little  space.  They  call 
to  the  reader's  mind  what  might  otherwise  require  a  para- 
graph, a  page,  or  even  several  pages  for  its  expression. 

ILLUSTRATION 

In  "  The  Talisman  "  Scott  writes  :  "  Trust  me  that  Italian  spiders' 
webs  will  never  bind  this  unshorn  Samson  of  the  Isle."  By  means 
of  the  two  words,  unshorn  Samson,  Scott  utilizes  the  Biblical  story 
with  which  his  reader  is  familiar  and  thus  quickly  gives  him  a  vivid 
idea  of  King  Richard's  strength  —  as  great  as  that  of  the  man  who 
tore  a  lion  asunder  and  bore  off  on  his  shoulders  the  gates  of  the 
city  of  Gaza. 


THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE  133 

By  using  direct  discourse  (page  34)  one  gains  some-  Direct 

discourse 

thing  from  the  speaker  s  own  personality.  Trivial 
remarks,  however,  do  not  deserve  the  prominence  that 
direct  discourse  would  give  them,  unless  they  are  part 
of  a  conversation. 

The   active   forms    of    verbs    are    livelier    than    the  Active 

forms 

passive. 

The  historic  present  tense  (pages  112  and  113)  is  a  Historic 

...  .         ,.r  present 

means  of  increasing  life. 

The  following  illustrative  paragraphs  differ  greatly  from  one 
another,  but  all  have  life.  In  the  excerpts  from  Dr.  Johnson's 
letter,  his  wounded  dignity  has  found  adequate  expression. 
The  writer's  interest  in  what  he  depicts  is  evident  in  each  of 
the  other  extracts. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Seven  years,  my  lord,  have  now  passed  since  I  waited  in  your 
outward  rooms,  or  was  repulsed  from  your  door ;  during  which  time 
I  have  been  pushing  on  my  work  through  difficulties,  of  which  it  is 
useless  to  complain,  and  have  brought  it,  at  last,  to  the  verge  of 
publication,  without  one  act  of  assistance,  one  word  of  encourage- 
ment, or  one  smile  of  favor.  Such  treatment  I  did  not  expect,  for 
I  never  had  a  patron  before. 

Is  not  a  patron,  my  lord,  one  who  looks  with  unconcern  on  a  man 
struggling  for  life  in  the  water,  and,  when  he  has  reached  the  ground, 
encumbers  him  with  help  ?  The  notice  which  you  have  been  pleased 
to  take  of  my  labors,  had  it  been  early,  had  been  kind ;  but  it  has 
been  delayed  till  I  am  indifferent,  and  cannot  enjoy  it ;  till  I  am  soli- 
tary, and  cannot  impart  it ;  till  I  am  known,  and  do  not  want  it. 
I  hope  it  is  no  very  cynical  asperity,  not  to  confess  obligations  when 
no  benefit  has  been  received,  or  to  be  unwilling  that  the  public 
should  consider  me  as  owing  that  to  a  patron  which  Providence  has 
enabled  me  to  do  for  myself. 

SAMUEL  JOHNSON  :    "  Letter  to  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield." 


134  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

II.  Out  flew  the  many-folded  lash  in  his  hand  ;  over  the  backs  of  the 
startled  steeds  it  writhed  and  hissed  and  hissed  and  writhed  again 
and  again  ;  and  though  it  fell  not,  there  were  both  sting  and  menace 
in  its  quick  report ;  and  as  the  man  passed  thus  from  quiet  to  resist- 
less action,  his  face  suffused,  his  eyes  gleaming,  along  the  reins  he 
seemed  to  flash  his  will,  and  instantly,  not  one,  but  the  four  as  one, 
answered  with  a  leap  that  landed  them  alongside  the  Roman's  car. 

LEW  WALLACE  :  "  Ben  Hur." 

III.  There  is  no  flavor  comparable,  I  will  contend,  to  that  of  the 
crisp,  tawny,  well-watched,  not  over-roasted,  crackling,  as  it  is  well 
called :  the  very  teeth  are  invited  to  their  share  of  the  pleasure  at 
this  banquet  in  overcoming  the  coy,  brittle  resistance,  with  the  ad- 
hesive oleaginous — O,  call  it  not  fat!  but  an  indefinable  sweetness 
growing  up  to  it,  the  tender  blossoming  of  fat,  fat  cropped  in  the 
bud,  taken  in  the  shoot,  in  the  first  innocence,  the  cream  and  quin- 
tessence of  the  child-pig's  yet  pure  food  —  the  lean,  no  lean,  but  a 
kind  of  animal  manna  —  or,  rather,  fat  and  lean  (if  it  must  be  so) 
so  blended  and  running  into  each  other  that  both  together  make 
but  one  ambrosian  result,  or  common  substance. 

CHARLES  LAMB:  "A  Dissertation  on  Roast  Pig." 

IV.  I  saw  him  [an  eagle]  bend  his  eye  down  upon  me,  and  I 
could  hear  the  low  hum  of  his  plumage,  as  if  the  web  of  every  quill 
in  his  great  wings  vibrated  in  his  strong,  level  flight. 

JOHN  BURROUGHS:  "  An  Idyl  of  the  Honey-Bee." 

V.  What  ineffaceable  red  streak,  flickering  so  sad  in  the  memory, 
is  that  of  this  poor  column  of  red  Swiss,1  breaking  itself  in  the  con- 
fusion of  opinions,  dispersing  into   blackness  and  death !     Honor 
to  you,  brave  men;  honorable  pity,  through  long  times!     Not  mar- 
tyrs were  ye,  —  and  yet  almost  more.     He  was  no  King  of  yours,  this 
Louis,  and  he  forsook  you  like  a  king  of  shreds  and  patches  :  ye 
were  but  sold  to  him  for  some  poor  sixpence  a  day ;  yet  would  ye 
work  for  your  wages,  keep  your  plighted  word.     The  work  now  was 

1  At  the  beginning  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  mob  attacked  the 
Tuileries,  which  was  bravely  defended  by  the  Swiss  guards.  Eight  hundred 
of  these  hired  soldiers  —  all  who  had  not  received  the  king's  orders  to 
cease  firing  —  were  massacred  by  the  rabble. 


THE   QUALITIES   OF   STYLE  135 

to  die,  and  ye  did  it.  Honor  to  you,  O  Kinsmen.  —  Let  the  travel- 
ler, as  he  passes  through  Lucerne,  turn  aside  to  look  a  little  at  their 
monumental  Lion;  not  for  Thorwaldsen's  sake  alone.1  Hewn  out 
of  living  rock,  the  figure  rests  there,  by  the  still  Lake-waters,  in 
lullaby  of  distant-tinkling  ranz-des-vaches?  the  granite  mountains 
dumbly  keeping  watch  all  round,  —  and,  though  inanimate,  speaks. 
THOMAS  CARLYLE:  "The  French  Revolution." 

VI.    O  my  Athens  —  Sparta  love  thee?     Did  Sparta  respond? 
Every  face  of  her  leered  in  a  furrow  of  envy,  mistrust, 
Malice,  —  each  eye  of  her  gave  me  its  glitter  of  gratified  hate ! 
Gravely  they  turned  to  take  counsel,  to  cast  for  excuses.     I 

stood 
Quivering,  —  the  limbs  of  me  fretting  as  fire  frets,  an  inch 

from  dry  wood : 

"Persia  has  come,  Athens  asks  aid,  and  still  they  debate  ?" 
ROBERT  BROWNING:  "  Pheidippides." 

EXERCISES 

I.  Discuss  the  following  work  with  reference  to  its  posses- 
sion of  life  :  — 

i.  THE  HIGH  WIND 

There  is  a  slight  breeze  stirring  by  noon.  Later,  it  greatly  in- 
creases in  volume,  driving  before  it  a  cloud  of  dust  and  a  whirl  of 
leaves.  Here  and  there  are  miniature  whirlwinds. 

Many  a  prank  it  plays  on  its  course.  It  hurries  down  the  street. 
"Hats  off,  gentlemen!  Here  is  a  good  chance  for  exercise." 
What !  a  lady,  too  ?  Surely  that  is  not  right,  to  ask  a  lady  to  take 
off  her  hat  so  quickly  when  it  is  pinned  on  securely  with  two  pins. 
"Open  those  blinds  —  that  house  needs  the  sunlight.  Slam  those 
doors  back  and  forth  ;  people  like  a  racket." 

1  Thorwaldsen  has  commemorated  the  fall  of  the  faithful  Swiss  soldiers 
in  his  colossal  sculpture  cut  in  the  face  of  the  rock  at  Lucerne :  a  dying 
lion  transfixed  by  a  broken  lance  protects  the  royal  lilies  of  France  with 
his  paw.  —  MONTGOMERY'S  "French  History." 

2  Melody  of  Swiss  mountaineers. 


136  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

Then  onward  the  breeze  rushes  round  a  corner,  in  search  of  fresh 
sport. 

[How,  if  at  all,  has  life  been  given  to  I  ?  Would  the  substitution 
of  "  this  breeze "  for  it  at  the  beginning  of  the  second  paragraph 
give  sequence  and  paragraph  connection  ?  Would  force  be  prefer- 
able to  volume,  in  the  second  sentence  ?  Give  a  reason  for  your 
last  answer.] 

2.   A  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  COMING  OF  DUNCAN  TO  MACBETH'S 

CASTLE 

A  faint  trumpet  blast  echoes  and  dies  away  among  the  blue  hills 
to  the  westward,  and  the  old  watcher  in  the  turret  peers  through  the 
slit  in  the  masonry  and  catches  the  glint  of  spear  points  and  the 
flashes  of  red,  as  the  setting  sun  plays  on  the  swinging  shields.  The 
glittering  line  moves  out  slowly  from  behind  a  stunted  growth  of 
northern  pines,  and  a  single  crow,  roused  by  the  clattering  proces- 
sion, rises  from  the  trees  with  a  hollow  "  Caw  !  Caw ! "  and  flaps 
heavily  toward  the  castle.  The  chains  from  the  drawbridge  creak 
piercingly  as  it  sinks  into  place,  and  the  walls  are  alive  with  color. 
The  brilliant  cavalcade,  with  Duncan  at  its  head,  swings  into  a  trot 
and  approaches  in  a  cloud  of  white  dust.  Red,  blue,  amber,  gold, 
glittering  steel,  creaking  leather,  streaming  plumes,  flapping  pen- 
nons ;  then  cheer  after  cheer  from  the  castle  walls  as  they  halt, 
clanking,  in  front  of  the  drawbridge.  The  sun  sinks  and  from  every 
tower  is  unfurled  the  standard  of  the  Scottish  king  ! 

[The  is  used  ten  times  in  the  first  sentence.  The  might  be  changed 
to  a  before  slit;  it  might  be  omitted  before  flashes  and  swinging, 
without  materially  altering  the  meaning.  Would  the  changes  sug- 
gested in  the  preceding  sentence  help  to  gain  smoothness,  rapid- 
ity, or  any  other  quality  of  style  ?  And  occurs  very  frequently. 
Might  it  be  omitted  from  the  third  sentence  with  a  semicolon  used 
in  its  place  ?  Suggest  any  slight  change  in  construction  which 
would  make  the  use  of  and  in  some  other  sentence  of  the  exercise 
unnecessary.  In  the  sentence  before  the  last  do  you  find  a  predi- 
cate ?  Is  they  sufficiently  definite  as  a  reference  word,  or  is  a  noun 
required  ?  Consider  the  exercise  with  reference  to  paragraphing. 


THE   QUALITIES  OF   STYLE  137 

If  you  prefer  more  than  the  single  paragraph,  into  how  many  para- 
graphs would  you  divide  the  work,  and  what  would  be  the  topics  ?] 

11.  In  "  Silas  Marner,"  Chapter  xvi,  find  :  — 

1 .  An  example  of  life  gained  by  means  of  a  figure  of  speech. 
Quote  and  classify  the  figure. 

2.  An  example  of  life  gained   by  the  use   of  imitative   words. 
Quote  the  expression  and  designate  the  words. 

III.  Write  about  one  of  the  following  subjects ;  try  to  give 
life  to  your  work  :  — 

1.  A  Scene  that  has  Impressed  Itself  upon  my  Memory. 

2.  What  I  should  be  Least  Willing  to  Part  With  from  my  Expe- 
rience and  Why  I  should  not  Like  to  be  Deprived  of  It. 

3.  A  Character  in  Fiction  that  Seems  Actually  to  Live. 

4.  A  Ride  on  a  Swinging  Birch. 

5.  The  Jury's  Decision. 

6.  A  Day  when  Nature  Seemed  Hostile. 

7.  Good-by  and  Welcome.     (A  farewell  and  a  greeting;  people, 
time,  and  place  to  be  chosen  by  the  writer.) 

8.  An  Auction.  • 

9.  When  the  Ocean  Liner  Sails. 

10.    My  Thoughts  and  Imaginings  about  my  Fellow-traveller. 
n.   The  Friendly  House. 

12.  The  Camp,  at  Midnight,  Noon,  or  Sunrise. 

The  subjects  given  above  are  general  and  intended  to  be 
merely  suggestive.  Change  the  subject  you  choose  into  one 
more  definite,  in  accordance  with  your  own  knowledge,  read- 
ing, or  experience  ;  for  one  can  not  have  life  in  writing  without 
first  having  genuine  feeling  and  strong  conviction  to  express. 

IV.  In  doing  the  work  required  under  III,  how  did   you 
endeavor  to  acquire  life? 

V.  What  quality  of  style  is  necessary  in  all  writing? 


CHAPTER   XIV 


NARRATION 

Definition         NARRATION  is  the  telling  of  a  sequence  of  actual  or 

imagined  events,  making  a  story. 

The  story  Stories  are  of  different  sorts  :  for  example,  "  Gulliver's 
without,  a  Travels  "  and  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  have  no  plot,  yet  are 
steadily  interesting  as  they  unfold  daily  experiences ; 
while  "A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  "The  House  of  the 
Seven  Gables,"  "Silas  Marner,"  and  "The  Vision  of 
Sir  Launfal"  —  a  story  in  verse  —  have  a  point  of 
supreme  interest,  a  climax.  (See  page  6.) 

Each  of  the  following  paragraphs  gives  material  for 
a  story  with  a  climax ;  the  list  that  succeeds  the  para- 
graphs furnishes  the  titles  of  other  incidents  which 
might  be  made  into  stories  with  climaxes. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Select  from  the  paragraphs,  or  from  the  list,  the  incident 
that  pleases  you  most. 

II.  Learn  all  that  you  can  about  the  chosen  incident. 

i.   Different  tribes  of  Greece  were  to  unite  in  festal  games  at 

Corinth.     Ibykus,  a  singer,  was  to  take  part  in  the  contests.     On 

.     the  way  to  the  meeting-place  he  was  murdered  in  a  pine-grove.     No 

human  being  saw  the  deed,  but  Ibykus  called  upon  a  flock  of  cranes, 

flying  overhead,  to  betray  his  assassins.     The  murder  was  discovered, 

138 


NARRATION  139 

but  not  the  murderer.  His  countrymen  grieved  for  Ibykus.  Soon 
people  gathered  for  the  contests  in  the  amphitheatre,  a  circular 
structure,  open  to  the  sky  and  seating  thirty  thousand  people.  One 
after  another  the  prizes  were  awarded.  At  last  it  was  announced 
that  a  representation  of  the  Furies  by  a  chorus  of  fifty  performers 
would  conclude  the  programme.  The  Furies  appeared,  —  with  pale 
faces  and  with  writhing  serpents  instead  of  hair,  —  and  circled 
round  the  theatre,  chanting :  "  Well  for  him  who,  free  from  crimes, 
keeps  his  soul  pure  as  a  child's,  for  him  we  dare  not  approach, 
avenging;  but  woe  to  him  that  did  secretly  the  dreadful  deed  of 
murder.  We  follow  his  footsteps  night  and  day.  If  he  thinks  to 
escape  by  flight,  we  take  wings  and  ensnare  his  fugitive  feet.  We 
pursue  him  to  the  very  shades,  and  not  even  there  will  we  let  him 
go  free."  The  Furies  vanished  into  the  background.  A  flock  of 
cranes  flew  over  the  open  theatre.  They  darkened  the  sky.  A 
voice  from  the  highest  seats  cried  :  "  See  there,  Timotheus  !  Behold 
the  cranes  of  Ibykus!"  The  cry  betrayed  the  guilty.  Some  one 
exclaimed  that  the  man  who  uttered  the  words  and  the  companion 
to  whom  he  spoke  them  should  be  seized.  The  men  were  taken, 
tried,  and  condemned. 

2.  When  William  of  Normandy  came  to  England  to  fight  for  the 
English  throne,  he  fell  as  he  was  stepping  out  of  his  boat.     His 
superstitious  followers  believed  this  to  be  a  bad  omen,  but  William 
changed  their  fears,  by  exclaiming  that  he  had  England  in  both 
hands. 

3.  During  the  Hundred  Years1  War  England  laid  siege  to  Calais, 
a  rich  little  town  on  the  seacoast  of  France.      The  English  knew 
that  Calais  was  the  very  door  which  would  give  them  admission  to 
France.     Accordingly,  Edward  III,  after  many  victories,  laid  siege  to 
the  town.     The  people  were  brave  and  endured  the  siege  for  a  year, 
until  by  starvation  and  illness  they  were  driven  to  surrender.     But 
Edward  was  angry  because  they  had  so  long  held  out  against  him, 
and  decided  to  punish  them  still  further.     He  sent  them  the  message 
that  he  would  not  raise  the  siege  until  six  of  the  richest  burghers 
appeared  before  him  with  halters  around  their  necks,  and  bearing 
the  keys  of  the  city.     A  meeting  was  called  and  six  volunteered  to 
go,  St.  Pierre  being  the  first  to  offer.     When,  barefooted  and  with 


140  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

the  halters  around  their  necks,  they  appeared  before  the  king  to 
deliver  the  keys,  he  would  have  had  them  put  to  death  at  once,  had 
not  Queen  Philippa,  touched  by  the  sad  sight,  pleaded  for,  and 
obtained,  their  deliverance. 


List  of  Incidents 

1.  Balboa's  arrival  in  America,  or 

2.  Balboa's  death.     (Fiske's  "  Discovery  of  America.") 

3.  The  Oregon  "  to  the  front "  from  around  the  Cape. 

4.  Walter  Raleigh  spreads  his  cloak  before  Queen  Elizabeth. 
(The  English  histories.) . 

5.  How  Blondel  found  King  Richard.     (Chambers's  Encyclo- 
paedia.    Myers's  "  General  History.") 

6.  King  Alfred  and   the   cakes.     (Montgomery's  "  History  of 
England.") 

7.  Charlemagne  and  the  lazy  princes.     (Guizot's  "  History  of 
France.") 

8.  The  meeting  of  the  three  kings  on  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of 
Gold.     (Guizot's  "  History  of  England,"  Vol.  II,  p.  137.     Guizot's 
"History  of  France,'1  Vol.  IV,  p.  41.      Montgomery's  "History  of 
England.") 

9.  Frederick  Barbarossa  and  the  ravens.     (Chambers's  Ency- 
clopaedia.    Morris's  "  Historical  Tales.") 

10.    The   opening  of  the   dykes   during   the   siege   of  Leyden. 
(Motley's  "Rise  of  the  Dutch  Republic,"  Vol.  II.) 

n.    The  Story  of  Arion.     (Bulfinch's  "Mythology.") 

The  Bible  contains  material  for  the  following  :  — 

1.  The  discovery  of  Joseph  to  his  brethren. 

2.  The  finding  of  Moses. 

3.  The  burning  bush. 

4.  Samson's  riddle. 

5.  The  death  of  Samson. 

6.  The  handwriting  on  the  wall. 

7.  David  pours  out  the  water  brought  from  the  spring. 

8.  The  destruction  of  Pharaoh's  host. 


NARRATION  141 

Greek  and  Roman  histories  tell  of  many  interesting  occurrences,    Where  to 

such  as  the  giving  of  earth  and  water  to  the  Persian  envoys,  the    find  other 

incidents 

saving  of  Rome  by  the  geese,  the  escape  of  Hippias  from  assassina- 
tion, the  lashing  of  the  Hellespont  by  order  of  Xerxes.     Incidents 
may  be  found  in  Frank  Stockton's  "  Stories  of  New  Jersey,"  Edward 
Eggleston's  "  First  Book  in  American  History,"  Miss  Yonge's  "  A 
Book  of  Golden  Deeds,1'  and  Marguerite  Bouvef s  "  Tales  of  an  Old   incidents 
Chateau."     It  is  desirable,  however,  to  use  an  event  that  has  been    that  have 
merely  outlined ;  it  is  less  difficult  then  to  retell  it  as  a  story  in  one's   elaborated 
own  way. 

In  studying  description,  it  was  discovered  that  the  Every 
character  of  the  work  was  determined  by  its  purpose, 
Every  composition  should  have  its  purpose.  Consider  ltspurposi 
the  incident  selected  in  response  to  I,  page  138.  Why 
should  it  be  told  ?  Other  things  happened  which  passed 
into  oblivion ;  this  event,  though  minor,  was  chronicled 
because  it  is  significant.  If  the  incident  be  "  Walter 
Raleigh  spreads  his  cloak  before  Queen  Elizabeth,"  it 
may  illustrate  the  value  of  an  alert  mind. 

EXERCISE 

State  in  one  sentence,  if  possible,  what  the  incident  selected  Unity  in 

in  response  to  I,  page  138,  means  to  you.     The  statement  made  composition 

will  express  vour  theme  (page  0-     If  no  other  theme  be  intro-  and  in  its 

divisions 

duced,  the  work  will  have  unity  ;  for,  as  has  been  said,  oneness 
of  thought  in  the  sentence,  oneness  of  topic  in  the  paragraph, 
and  oneness  of  theme  in  the  entire  composition  insure  unity. 

In  story-telling  it  is  helpful  not  only  to  know  one's  Know  the 
theme,  but  also  to  have  thought  out  a  suitable  title.    The  if  possible 
appropriate  title  may  not,  however,  reveal  itself  at  first ;  before 
but  the  theme  should  be  clear  to  the  writer  before  he 
begins  his  work. 


142  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

EXERCISE 

Discuss  the  following  statements  of  incident,  theme,  and  title. 
If  you  are  familiar  with  the  incidents  referred  to,  suggest  other 
themes  and  titles. 

I.    Incident.  — The  saving  of  John  Smith's  life  by  Pocahontas. 
Theme.  —  And  a  little  child  shall  lead  them. 
Title.  —  In  the  Nick  of  Time. 
II.    Incident.  —  Walter  Raleigh  spreads  his  cloak  before  Queen 

Elizabeth.1 
Theme.  —  Grace  and  a  quick  wit  are  powerful  arrows  in 

the  quiver  of  a  statesman. 
Title.  —  The  Magic  Carpet. 

III.  Incident.  —  Walter  Raleigh  spreads  his  cloak  before  Queen 

Elizabeth. 

Theme.  —  Great  oaks  from  little  acorns  grow. 
Title.  —  How  a  Cloak  Helped  to  Make  a  Man  Famous. 

IV.  Incident.  —  The  finding  of  King  Richard  by  Blondel. 
Theme.  —  Faithfulness,  however  handicapped,  will  make  a 

way. 

Title.  —  The  Second  Stanza. 
V.    Incident.  —  An  incident  during  the  besieging  of  Calais  by 

Edward  III. 
Theme.  —  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  to  lay  down  his 

life  for  his  brother. 
Title.  — The  Six. 
VI.    Incident.  —  The  opening  of  the  dykes. 

Theme.  —  The  patriotic    Dutch  would    rather  give   their 

country  to  the  sea  than  to  the  enemy. 
Title.  —  Why  the  Sea  was  Let  In. 
VII.    Incident. : —  An  incident  of  the  siege  of  Leyden. 

Theme.  —  A  trust  must  be  kept  whatever  the  cost. 
Title.  —  The  Heroism  of  Van  der  WerflT. 

1  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  Chapter  xv  of  "  Kenilworth,"  tells  in  a  spirited 
way  the  story  of  Walter  Raleigh  and  his  cloak. 


NARRATION  143 

VIII.    Incident.  —  The  Children's  Crusade. 

Theme.  —  Whoso  shall  offend   one  of  these   little   ones 
which  believe  in  Me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill- 
stone were  hanged  about  his  neck  and  that  he  were 
drowned  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
Title.  —  The  Children  of  Disappointment. 
IX.    Incident.  —  How  the  Tarpeian  Rock  came  by  its  name. 
Theme.  —  Traitors  are  despised  even  by  those  whom  they 

help. 

Title.  —The  Name  of  the  Rock. 

X.    Incident.  —  The  warning  given  by  the  geese  at  Rome. 
Theme.  —  Though  man  sleep,  his  gods  are  to  be  reckoned 

with. 

Title.  —  The  Gods  Watch. 
XI.    Incident.  — The  finding  of  Moses. 

Theme. — The  hidden  kindness  and  sympathy  of  a  proud 
heart  may  be  brought  to  light  by  the  wants  of  a  little 
child. 

Title.  —  A  Child  Alone  on  a  River. 
XII.    Incident.  —  The  finding  of  Moses. 

Theme.  —  Nothing  is  risked  when  you  leave  in  the  Lord's 

hands  what  you  cannot  do  yourself. 
Title.  —  The  Corning  of  the  Princess. 
XIII.    Incident.  —  The  finding  of  Moses. 

Theme.  —  All  things  work  together  for  good. 
Title.  —  The  Cry  of  the  Child. 

[Although  the  three  compositions  on  the  finding  of  Moses  treated    Honesty 
of  the  same  incident,  yet,  as  each  writer  selected  the  particular  phase    n^Uesulf  s 
of  the  subject  that  most  appealed  to  him,  his  results  were  quite  his 
own.     The  two  compositions  about  Raleigh  also  were  very  unlike, 
because  one  writer  considered  the  value  of  quick  wit  and  the  other 
the  effect  that  a  trifling  act  may  have  upon  one's  future.] 

In  attempting  to  make  a  story,  if  a  writer  has  found  his  Know  the 
material  and  has  stated  to  himself  his  purpose,  rre  has 


144  PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 

accomplished  a  good  deal.  The  next  step  to  take,  pro- 
vided his  story  has  a  plot,  is  to  decide  what  is  its  point 
of  greatest  interest ;  that  point  will,  of  course,  be  the 
climax.  The  climax  of  a  work  need  not  be  at  its  end ; 
it  should  not,  however,  come  so  far  from  the  close  of  a 
composition  that  what  follows  it  becomes  uninteresting. 
The  climax  of  a  story  is  the  author's  guide  in  selecting 
material.  He  will  use  only  what  helps  his  climax.  In 
"  Silas  Marner,"  the  climax  —  Eppie's  choice  of  Marner 

—  is  emphasized  by  the  facts  that  Godfrey,  years  before, 
had  the  opportunity  to  claim  Eppie  as  a  baby,  but  re- 
fused it,  and  that  Marner  has  his  sorely  lamented  gold 

—  the  treasure   which    once   filled    his   life  —  restored, 
before  he  is  confronted  with  the  possible  loss  of  Eppie. 
(See  page  7.) 

EXERCISES 

I.  Decide  what  shall  be  the  climax  of  your  story. 

[The  work  required  in  the  rest  of  these  exercises  is  to  be 
done  only  in  outline.  Similar  work  prepared  by  other  students 
is  represented  on  pages  145,  146,  and  147.] 

II.  Make  a  list  of  the  material  collected  for  your  story. 

III.  Study  your  list  of  material  with  reference  to  its  climax ; 
reject  what  does  not  in  any  way  bear  upon  the  climax. 

IV.  So  arrange  the  material  retained  that  the  work  will  have 
an  order,  a  sequence.     This  may  be  done  without  rewriting,  by 
merely  numbering  each  bit  of  material  to  indicate  the  proper 
order. 

V.  Be  sure   that   your   climax   is    emphasized,    that   other 
things  are  subordinated  to  it.     Then  the  work  will  have  pro- 
portion. 


NARRATION  145 

[Although  the  subordinate  material  should  be  clear,  yet  it  Consider 
should  be  so  ingeniously  treated  —  perhaps  concisely  or  swiftly   material  € 
—  that  it  claims  only  the  attention  it  ought  to  have.] 

VI.   If  your  outline  has  too  few  details,  elaborate  it  as  the 
outline  on  pages  145  and  146  was  elaborated. 

OUTLINES  (See  I,  page  144) 

I.   Incident.  —  The  finding  of  Moses. 

Theme.  —  Helplessness  always  appeals  to  the  heart  of  the 

"  eternal  feminine." 
Title.  —  At  Daybreak. 

1.  The  Egyptians'  oppression  of  the  Israelites. 

2.  The  new  Pharaoh  had  forgotten  Joseph. 

3.  The  cruel  command. 

4.  When  the  child  was  born  to  Amram  and  Jochebed 

there  was  not  perfect  happiness  in  the  home. 

5.  Miriam  and  Aaron ;  their  age  and  character. 

6.  The  making  of  the  basket. 

7.  Launching  the  basket. 

8.  Miriam's  vigil. 

9.  The  beauty  of  the  scene  ;  the  river ;  the  palace. 

10.  Why  the  Princess  was  there. 

11.  Her  maids. 

12.  The  sighting  of  the  basket. 

13.  The  landing  of  the  basket.  Climax 

14.  The  adoption. 

15.  The  naming  of  the  child. 

1 6.  Miriam  approaches. 

17.  She  informs  her  mother  of  the  great  happiness. 

I.    Description  of  the  law  and  the  king.  The  outline 

II.   What  went  on  in  and  about  the  child's  home.  more  in 

detail 

1.  The  home  where  the  child  was  born. 

2.  Before  light,  the  rushes  are  gathered. 

3.  The  basket :  of  mud  inside  and  coated  with  tar. 

4.  The  procession  to  the  river. 

5.  The  launching  of  the  little  bark. 


146  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

III.  The  beautiful  palace. 

1.  Why  the  Princess  was  dwelling  there. 

2.  The  part  of  the  palace  seen  from  the  river. 

IV.  The  fate  of  the  basket. 

1.  The  little  basket  on  its  journey. 

2.  Miriam's  lookout. 

3.  What  day  it  was. 

4.  The  Princess  approaches. 

5.  Why  she  chose  that  spot  for  bathing. 

6.  The  sighting  of  the  basket. 

a.  It  was  stranded  in  the  rushes. 

b.  A  maid  approaches  the  basket. 

7.  The  landing. 

8.  The  Princess  uncovers  the  basket. 

9.  The  child  cries. 

10.  The  Princess  names  the  child  Moses  {Mo  =  water. 

uses  =;  saved). 

1 1.  Miriam  approaches  and  speaks  to  the  Princess  about 

a  nurse. 
V.   What  follows  the  incident  at  the  river. 

1.  The  hut,  with  the  mother  weeping. 

2.  The  father;  the  son. 

3.  Miriam  rushes  in. 

4.  Happiness. 

5.  The  mother  goes. 

II.    Incident.1  —  The  coming  of  William  the  Conqueror  to  England. 
Theme.  —  How  a  clear  head  and  a  steady  purpose  influenced 

England's  history. 
Title.  —  A  Spur  and  a  Silken  Thread. 

A  final  out-  I.    William's  ship  crossing  the  English  Channel, 

line  given,  „,       , 

in  detail  '•    The  day. 

2.  The  ship. 

3.  Duke  William. 

II.    Down  in  the  hold  Robert  Baldwin,  Englishman,  is  telling 
the  sailors  stories  about  superstitions. 

1  The  historical  account  has  been  somewhat  altered. 


NARRATION  147 

I .    Brief  description  of  :  — 

a.  The  hold. 

b.  The  sailors  there. 

c .  Baldwin  himself. 

III.  A  later  scene  in  Baldwin's  room. 

1.  Baldwin  and  Sir  Richard  Harthburt  plotting  against 

William. 

2.  The  plot. 

IV.  Night  before  William  lands. 

1.  Description  of  scenes  on  ship. 

2.  Harthburt  and  Baldwin  laying  their  snare  of  silken 

thread  in  the  bow  of  the  small  boat  that  is  to  carry 
William  to  shore. 
V.   William  embarking  for  shore. 

1.  Slight  controversy  as  to  whether  he  shall  wear  his 

spurs  or  not. 

a.  Lanfranc  warns  him  not  to  put  them  on. 

b.  Baldwin  finally  persuades  him  to  wear  them. 

2.  Embarkation. 

a.  William  stands  in  the  bow  of  the  boat  eager  to 

jump  off  the  minute  the  boat  touches  shore. 

b.  Lanfranc  again  warns  William  of  treachery. 

c.  William  jumps,  becomes  entangled  in  the  snare  of 

thread,  and  falls  sprawling  upon   the   English 
beach. 
VI.    Sequel. 

1.  Exclamations  of  horror   from   sailors,  made   super- 

stitious by  Baldwin. 

2.  Quick  recovery  of  William. 

3.  His  changing  of  the  interpretation  of  his  accident. 

Many  stories    keep    readers    in    suspense   until   the  what 
climax;  hint  at  developments;  and  have  a  good  deal  maydo 
of   movement.     They  so    carefully  regard   the    climax 
that,  when  it  comes,  the  reader  may  perceive  the  reason 
for  all  the  rest  of  the  work,  perceive  that  descriptions, 


148  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

conversations,  etc.,  all  have  helped  to  make  the  climax 
possible  and  interesting. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  SUGGESTIONS  IN  STORIES 

I.  In  the  first  chapter  of  ''The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables," 
Hawthorne  openly  alludes  to  the  ancestors  of  his  characters  as  sow- 
ing "  the  acorns  of  a  more  enduring  growth,  which  may  darkly  over- 
shadow their  posterity  "  ;  he  thus  leads  one  to  expect  tragedy  in  his 
romance. 

II.  Toward  the  end  of  Chapter  vi  in  "A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  a 
chief  character  says,  "  I  have  sometimes  sat  alone  here  of  an  even- 
ing, listening,  until  I  have  made  the  echoes  out  to  be  the  echoes  of 
all  the  footsteps  that  are  coming  by  and  by  into  our  lives."     The 
main  part  of  the  chapter  ends  with  this  inquiry :  "  Shall  we  ever  see 
such    a  night  again  together?  "     Dickens  (in  a  separate  detached 
paragraph  that  closes   the  chapter)  answers :  "  Perhaps.     Perhaps 
see  the  great  crowd  of  people,  with  its  rush  and  roar,  bearing  down 
upon  them,  too."     After  finishing  the  story,  one  realizes  that  in  this 
chapter  Carton's  sacrifice  also  is  foreshadowed. 

III.  The  last  sentence  of  the  first  paragraph  in  Chapter  xiv  of 
''Silas  Marner"  hints  at  important  developments  to  come;  so  does 
the  following  sentence  from  the  preceding  chapter :  "  He  remembered 
that  last  look  at  his  unhappy,  hated  wife  so  well  that  at  the  end  of 
sixteen  years  every  line  in  the  worn  face  was  present  to  him  when 
he  told  the  full  story  of  this  night/' 

when  the  The  real  story  does  not  always  begin  with  the  first 
begins  word  of  a  narrative.  A  story  begins  when  something 
occurs  that  starts  a  train  of  consequences.  If  one  has 
ever  set  off  a  string  of  firecrackers  by  means  of  a  slow 
match,  one  has  had  a  homely  illustration  of  the  statement 
just  made.  Nothing  happened  in  the  experiment  until 
the  first  firecracker  was  ignited ;  then  a  train  of  conse- 
quences followed. 


NARRATION  149 

EXERCISES 

Read  the  following  very  brief  stories.  Discuss  their  strong 
and  their  weak  features.  Suggest  improvements.  Note  that 
the  work  is  somewhat  vigorous  for  these  reasons  :  — 

I.  The  writers  do  not  have  unnecessary  introductions.  Avoid  need 
[De  Quincey  begins  his  "Joan  of  Arc"  with  the  inquiry,   Ji^nlry 

"  What  is  to  be  thought  of  her  ?  "     That  question  fastens  the   statements 
reader's  attention  at  once  upon  the  consideration  of  Joan  of 
Arc,  and  makes  him  an  active  judge.] 

II.  They  have  been  willing  to  reject  everything  that  did  not  whattouse 
actually  help  them  to  carry  out  their  purpose. 

III.  They  let  their  characters  speak  for  themselves.  utilize 

IV.  They  utilize  the  historic  present  tense  if  they  are  sure   c^rse  ami 

that  it  is  desirable  to  do  so.  the  histo"c 

present 

V.  They  endeavor  to  make  the  environment  —  the  land-    _ 

Create  a 

scape,   furnishings,  costumes,   speech  —  fit   the  time  and  the   suitable 

,  background 

place. 

VI.  They  try  to  use  only  such  words  as  help  to  convey  their  Be  careful 
meaning,  and  to  repeat  words  only  when  there  is  a  reason  for 

the  repetition. 

[The  narrative  paragraph  often  has  no  regular  method  of 
development.  It  may  merely  group  its  facts  in  an  orderly  way. 
(See  page  12.)] 

i.  DAMON  AND  PYTHIAS 

Before  Dionysius,  tyrant  of  Syracuse,  a  prisoner  waited  for  judg- 
ment—  Pythias,  the  Pythagorean,  wrongly  accused  of  treason. 
From  the  proud  ruler's  lips  came  the  sentence  —  his  punishment, 
death!  Now  did  the  waiting  throng  look  to  see  him  shrink  or 
tremble  ?  Calm,  dignified,  manly,  he  asked  only  for  a  short  delay, 
for  time  to  arrange  his  affairs.  "Where  is  the  security  for  thy 
return  ? "  asked  the  scornful  Dionysius.  "•  I  have  a  friend,1'  replied 
Pythias,  "  who  will  pledge  his  life  for  mine.'1  Bold  statement  !  But 


150  PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 

forth  from  the  crowd,  to  confirm  his  words,  stepped  the  noble  Damon, 
and  eagerly  claimed  the  right  to  take  Pythias's  place.  A  parting 
hand-clasp,  a  few  brief  words,  and  Pythias  was  gone,  leaving  Damon 
a  prisoner  in  his  stead,  pitied  and  scoffed  at  by  the  townspeople. 
"  He  is  a  fool,"  said  they,  "  for  the  other  will  never  return." 

Now  the  swift-winged  hours  flew  and  the  days,  though  bringing 
no  word  from  the  absent ;  till  at  last  the  end  drew  near,  and  Damon, 
trusting  still  in  his  friend's  honor,  prepared  to  pay  the  penalty. 
"  He  will  yet  be  here ;  or,  if  he  comes  not,  it  is  the  winds  and  waves 
that  have  kept  him.1'  Such  was  his  loyal  answer  to  all  insinuations 
of  treachery. 

And  now  but  a  few  brief  moments  remain :  a  silent  multitude 
waits  to  see  the  end  of  this  madman's  folly.  The  axe  is  ready,  the 
headsman  begins  to  bind  his  victim,  when  lo!  a  flying  speck  in  the 
distance,  a  thick  cloud  of  whirling  dust,  a  clatter  of  hoofs,  and  a 
horseman,  flecked  with  foam,  dashes  into  view.  Now  the  reckless 
rider  has  reached  the  market-place,  and  gasping,  "  Still  in  time, 
thank  heaven!"  throws  himself  into  Damon's  outstretched  arms. 

Ah,  love  too  great  for  words !  From  the  eyes  of  each  his  soul 
looked  out,  and  if  to  Damon  this  public  proof  of  his  friend's  honor 
was  dear  indeed,  how  glad  was  the  noble  Pythias  to  welcome  death, 
his  comrade  safe.  "  Ah,  Pythias,  now  must  thou  die ! "  and  Damon's 
eyes,  before  alight  with  the  thought  of  his  coming  sacrifice,  filled 
with  tears.  But,  "  Not  so!  "  cried  a  voice  —  the  voice  of  Dionysius. 
"  Live,  loyal  hearts !  live  on  to  teach  us  the  lesson  of  true  friendship." 

2.     BRUCE  AND   THE   SPIDER 

A  weary,  travel-stained  wanderer,  his  clothes  torn  to  tatters  by 
brambles  and  crags,  his  eyes  heavy  from  loss  of  sleep,  his  courage 
gone  because  of  baffled  hopes  and  ambitions,  —  such  was  the  king. 
To  him  the  deserted  hut  of  a  Highland  shepherd  seemed  a  sweet 
haven.  Exhausted,  he  flung  himself  down  and  slept  heavily  on  the 
pile  of  heather  in  a  dark  corner  of  the  humble  dwelling. 

Morning  light  creeps  in,  and  slowly  he  awakens,  turning  his  eyes 
to  the  unfamiliar  surroundings,  in  a  daze.  Then  it  all  comes  over 
him,  the  weight  of  his  burden ;  and  he  sinks  back,  weary  with  the 
thought  of  war. 


NARRATION  1 5  I 

A  tiny  spider  spins  its  filmy  web  in  patience.  His  haggard  eyes 
watch  its  persistent  repetition  of  the  attempt  to  span  the  distance 
from  beam  to  beam.  Idle,  weary  thoughts  cease.  His  entire  inter- 
est is  centred  on  the  little  insect.  Will  it  win  this  time?  No,  not 
yet.  Six  times  it  fails,  but  at  length  success  crowns  its  labors  and 
its  fairy  bridge  swings  lightly  in  the  faint  breeze. 

O  little  spider,  the  fate  of  the  Scottish  people  depended  on  your 
airy  thread.  Bruce  has  conquered  himself,  and  this  is  the  crisis  of 
the  war.  The  English  are  already  banished. 

[Sweet  haven,  lines  4  and  5,  hutnble  dwelling,  line  6,  and  success 
crowns  its  labors,  in  the  third  paragraph,  are  not  the  writer's  own  ex- 
pressions. They  have  been  used  so  often,  and  by  so  many,  that  they 
have  become  hackneyed.  Find  for  them  simple,  strong  substitutes. 
Is  the  historic  present  tense  correctly  used  in  this  composition?] 

The  following  very  brief  narrative  is  inserted  because  it  has 
a  swift  movement  that  is  pleasing. 

3.    THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILD 

Softly  the  wind  sighed  in  the  rushes,  gently  the  waters  flowed ; 
together  they  hushed  the  child  to  sleep.  Was  it  pity  for  the  mother 
forced  to  put  him  there? 

She,  forced  by  Pharaoh's  commands,  had  hidden  the  child  in  her 
home,  but  she  could  keep  him  there  no  longer;  so  the  cradle  boat 
was  built,  and  lovingly  the  child  was  laid  therein.  .  .  . 

Dancing,  laughing,  and  making  as  merry  as  any  party  of  school- 
girls, the  Princess  and  her  maids  came  down  to  the  water  to  bathe. 
The  Princess,  seeing  the  ark  floating  among  the  rushes,  commanded 
her  maids  to  bring  it  to  her. 

All  were  filled  with  wonder;  what  would  it  contain!  Eagerly 
they  crowded  round  to  see.  Lo !  when  they  raised  the  top,  there 
lay  a  little  child. 

" 'Tis  one  of  the  Hebrew  children,  a  boy!" 

"  I  am  Pharaoh's  daughter,  I  can  do  what  I  will." 

Should  she  keep  it  or  give  it  up  to  be  killed?  The  child,  fright- 
ened by  the  strange  faces,  cried.  Compassion  filled  the  Princess. 
"  I  will  keep  it!"  she  cried. 


I$2  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

Thou  hast  spoken  well,  sweet  Princess,  for  great  is  the  work  he 
will  perform ;  he  shall  lead  God's  chosen  people  from  their  bondage. 

\Was  it  pity,  line  2,  is  hardly  clear:  "  Did  they  do  it  in  pity"  is 
preferable.  The  repetition  of  forced,  line  4,  of  there,  line  5,  and  of 
cried,  line  18,  is  not  necessary.  The  word  child  is  used  repeatedly, 
but,  like  Princess,  it  has  the  effect  of  a  proper  name  and  its  repetition 
is  not  displeasing. 

A  note  from  the  writer  of  3  says  :  "  I  have  spent  much  time  trying 
to  tell  the  incident  and  follow  the  outline.  I  have  failed.  This  is 
the  best  I  have  been  able  to  do."  Answer  the  following  questions 
suggested  by  the  quoted  note  :  — 

a.  Why  are  outlines  made? 

b.  Should  an  outline  be  adhered  to  merely  because  it  has  been 
made  out? 

c.  What,  if  anything,  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  a  change 
in  one's  original  plan?] 

4.    A  GLADIATORIAL  CONTEST  1 

We  were  brothers,  we  two,  and  gladiators,  and  were  to  meet  in 
deadly  combat  for  the  amusement  of  the  populace,  that  day.  We 
lay  in  our  dungeon  waiting  for  the  guard  to  come  for  us.  Echoing 
fearfully  through  the  gloomy  passages  came  the  cries  of  the  wild 
beasts,  furious  with  hunger.  I  shuddered ;  and  my  brother  said, 
with  a  laugh,  "  'Twere  good  to  die  a  gladiator ;  what  think'st  thou  ? " 

He  was  tall  and  strong,  my  brother,  but  I  had  thrown  him  in  many 
a  friendly  wrestle,  when  we  were  boys  at  home.  Oh,  yes !  we  were 
well  matched,  and  the  guards  had  known  this  when  they  took  us 
from  our  home  in  far-distant  Thrace. 

But  this  was  not  the  time  to  talk  of  home,  for  there  lay  the  death- 
giving  net,  the  trident,  the  glittering  javelin,  and  the  armor. 

"  The  gods  might  relent  and  save  us  at  the  last,"  said  my  brother. 
My  heart  leaped,  but,  "  We  have  burnt  no  sacrifice,"  said  I,  "  and 
the  thought  is  folly." 

1  Gladiatorial  contests  were  freely  indulged  in  until  the  reign  of 
Honorius,  when  Telemachus,  a  Christian  priest,  rushed  into  the  arena 
and  stopped  a  combat. 


NARRATION  153 

Suddenly  the  trumpets  blared,  and  the  sound  rolled  round  the 
great  walls  and  died  away  in  the  dungeons  under  the  gates.  Then 
I  knew  that  the  hour  had  come.  We  were  led  out,  my  brother  and 
I,  into  the  arena.  The  hum  of  a  million  voices  beat  the  air,  and  tier 
upon  tier  around  us  rose  the  multitude,  dazzling  in  the  whiteness  of 
their  holiday  raiment.  My  eyes  turned  to  the  Emperor,  haughtily 
magnificent,  and  I  hated  him,  for  he  waited  with  languid  interest  to 
see  me  die.  My  brother  smiled  grimly,  as  cheer  upon  cheer  burst 
from  the  spectators.  They  were  impatient  for  their  sport.  I 
thought  again  of  some  chance  of  escape ;  perhaps  the  Emperor 
might  relent,  for  we  were  brothers ;  but  the  trumpets  blared  again, 
and  we  forgot  ourselves,  and  blind  rage  seized  us.  We  went  mad,  I 
think ;  I  grasped  the  net,  and  my  brother  circled  cunningly  round  me 
with  the  javelin. 

The  vast  crowds  are  still  now,  and  I  see  only  the  glitter  of  my 
brother's  javelin,  now  here,  now  there,  but  nearer  and  nearer.  He 
is  gathering  for  the  spring  now :  insensibly,  I  brace  myself;  there  is 
a  rush,  a  shock,  a  clash  of  steel,  the  net  flies  through  the  air,  and  he 
lies  at  my  feet,  writhing  in  its  folds.  The  people  whirl  their  bravos 
at  us,  but  it  is  not  over  yet.  The  Emperor!  Is  it  thumbs  up  or 
thumbs  down?  I  cannot  raise  my  eyes.  Must  I  kill  him? 

O  ye  gods,  the  royal  hand  is  turning.  Ah !  the  thumb  goes  down! 
As  in  a  dream,  I  lift  my  trident ;  I  hear  a  voice,  weak  with  anguish, 
"O  my  brother!"  and  then  —  but  what  is  this?  a -rush  of  feet,  a 
hand  grasping  my  descending  arm !  Telemachus,  the  priest,  has 
saved  me. 

[In  the  first  two  sentences  of  the  sixth  paragraph  now  occurs 
four  times.  Is  the  repetition  necessary?  Where  is  the  historic 
present  found?  Is  it  correctly  used?  Note  the  provisions  for 
paragraph  connection.] 

The  following  paragraphs  are  an  introduction  to  the  story  of 
the  Boston  Tea  Party  :  — 

5.   A  TEA  PARTY 

Why  have  men  gathered  at  the  corners  of  the  streets  and  around 
the  stores  to  talk  so  earnestly?  There  is  to  be  a  party  to-night,  but 


154 


PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 


no  invitations  are  sent  out.  No  gold-laced  coats  nor  stiff  cravats 
will  be  worn ;  there  will  be  no  dancing,  no  music,  and  no  feasting. 

What  then  is  the  cause  of  such  excitement  ?  You  are  curious 
about  this  party  where  there  are  no  gayeties  to  attract  ?  We  will 
join  one  of  the  groups  and  learn  more  concerning  it. 

[In  what  way,  or  ways,  are  the  preceding  introductory  paragraphs 
likely  to  be  serviceable  to  the  story  that  is  to  be  told  ?] 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  the  story  you  have  planned. 

II.  Because  the  incident  taken  from  history  has  furnished 
your  plot  or  climax,  thought  may  be  concentrated  upon  the 
way  in  which  the  story  is  told.     Read  over  the  work  done  in 
response  to  I,  to  see  whether  the  knowledge  that  has  been 
gained  of  diction,  figures  of  speech,  and  qualities  of  style  en- 
ables you  to  improve  it.     Make  any  possible  improvements. 

III.  Write  a  brief  biographical  sketch. 

An  Anecdote  is  a  very  short  story  that  has  but  a  single 
point.  The  point  of  an  anecdote  should  be  quickly  made. 

EXAMPLE.  —  James,  Duke  of  York,  afterward  the  gloomy  and 
bigoted  James  II  of  England,  while  driving  one  day  through  East- 
cheap  on  his  way  from  one  respectable  part  of  London  to  another, 
met  his  elder  brother,  King  Charles  II,  with  some  disreputable  asso- 
ciates, coming  out  of  a  tavern.  Charles  gave  James  an  undignified 
and  mocking  salutation.  James  ordered  his  coach  to  stop,  rebuked 
his  brother  for  frequenting  resorts  so  questionable  and  being  in  com- 
pany so  villanous,  and  warned  Charles  of  the  danger  from  assassi- 
nation to  which  he  exposed  his  royal  person.  Charles  listened 
good-humoredly  until  the  probability  of  assassination  was  suggested. 
Then  he  exclaimed,  "No,  no,  Jamie,  they  will  never  harm  me.  They 
know  that  if  they  killed  me  they  would  have  you  for  king  ! " 

This  keen  retort  summed  up  the  political  situation  in  England. 

Novels,  short  stories,  biographies,  accounts  of  travels, 
and  histories  are  the  most  important  forms  of  narration. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE     COMPOSITION  :     INTRODUCTION,     CONCLUSION, 
SUiMMARIES,   TRANSITIONS,   OUTLINE 

MANY  compositions  require  careful  planning.  First,  usefulness 
the  writer  should  decide  why  he  writes,  what  he  wishes 
to  effect  by  his  piece  of  work.  His  purpose  being 
quite  clear  to  himself,  the  next  thing  is  to  achieve  it. 
Some  way  will  be  the  swiftest  and  best.  When  he  finds 
that  way,  the  most  difficult  part  of  his  work  is  accom- 
plished. Therefore,  it  is  economical  —  as  well  as  wise 
—  to  consider,  to  plan,  and  to  make  an  outline. 

In  a  work  of  considerable  length  —  though  not  in  a  statement 

,     .    ,         ,      of  purpose 

story  and  not  always  in  a  composition  that  is  brief  —  it  Or  theme 
is  natural  to  begin  by  stating  one's  purpose  or  theme. 
Then  writer  and  reader  can  go  along  together,  following 

the  denned  path  toward  an  acknowledged  goal.     Such  The  intro- 
duction 
a  preliminary  statement  is  called  an  introduction. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  I  believe,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  my  first  duty  this  evening 
is  to  ask  your  pardon  for  the  ambiguity  of  title  under  which  the  sub- 
ject of  my  lecture  ["  Of  Kings'  Treasuries  "J  has  been  announced. 
.  .  .  For  indeed  I  am  not  going  to  talk  of  kings,  known  as  regnant, 
nor  of  treasuries,  understood  to  contain  wealth  ;  but  of  quite  another 
order  of  royalty  and  material  of  riches  than  those  usually  acknowl- 

'55 


156  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

edged.  And  I  had  even  intended  to  ask  your  attention  for  a  little 
while  on  trust,  and  (as  sometimes  one  contrives  in  taking  a  friend 
to  see  a  favorite  piece  of  scenery)  to  hide  what  I  wanted  most  to 
show,  with  such  imperfect  cunning  as  I  might,  until  we  had  unex- 
pectedly reached  the  best  point  of  view  by  winding  paths.  .  .  .  But 
as  I  have  heard  it  said,  by  men  practised  in  public  address,  that 
hearers  are  never  so  much  fatigued  as  by  the  endeavor  to  follow  a 
speaker  who  gives  them  no  clew  to  his  purpose,  I  will  take  the  slight 
mask  off  at  once  and  tell  you  plainly  that  I  want  to  speak  to  you 
about  the  treasures  hidden  in  books ;  and  about  the  way  we  find 
them,  and  the  way  we  lose  them. 

JOHN  RUSKIN :  "  Of  Kings'  Treasuries." 

II.  Review  the  opening  lines  of  Virgil's  "yEneid"  (i)  and  of 
Milton's  "Paradise  Lost"  (2). 

1.  I  sing  of  arms,  and  of  the  man  who  first 
Came  from  the  coasts  of  Troy  to  Italy 
And  the  Lavinian  shores,  exiled  by  fate. 

2.  Of  Man's  first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  World,  and  all  our  woe, 
With  loss  of  Eden,  till  one  greater  Man 
Restore  us,  and  regain  the  blissful  seat,  — 
Sing,  Heavenly  Muse. 

EXERCISE 

Write  the  introductory  sentence  or  paragraph  for  a  com- 
position on  one  of  the  subjects  in  the  following  list.  Let  the 
sentence  or  paragraph  reveal  the  purpose  of  your  composition. 
The  introduction  for  i  may  show  whether  you  believe  the  land- 
mark should  be  preserved  or  destroyed,  and  may  lead  to  an 
enumeration  and  consideration  of  the  reasons  for  your  opinion. 
The  introduction  for  2  will,  perhaps,  make  known  what  phase 
of  the  subject  is  to  be  treated  ;  possibly  it  is  the  wisdom  of 
having  such  tests  uniform  or  the  desirability  of  abolishing  them 


THE    COMPOSITION  157 

altogether.  The  preliminary  paragraph  for  6  will,  very  likely, 
define  the  term  highways  and  declare  that  the  condition  of  the 
roads  (or  some  other  matter  of  importance)  will  be  reviewed. 
For  3,  4,  and  5,  the  introduction  may  state  that  only  a  few 
points  are  to  be  considered,  and  may  tell  what  those  points 
are. 

1.  The  Preservation  of  the  Old  Landmark. 

2.  College  Entrance  Examinations. 

3.  My  Visit  to  the  Pottery  Works. 

4.  The  Aquarium. 

5.  What  I  should  Like  to  Become. 

6.  Our  Highways. 

Even  though  writer  and  reader  start  together  for  the 
same  destination,  one  or  the  other  —  probably  both  — 
may  become  confused,  may  lose  the  way,  unless  de- 
vices are  employed  to  mark  out  the  path,  and  to  give 
opportunities  for  a  glance  backward  as  well  as  forward. 
Such  devices  are  summaries,  and  transition  sentences 
and  paragraphs. 

A  summary  reviews;  it  states,  more  or  less  rapidly,  Thesum- 
what  has  been  done. 

When    a  writer  or  speaker   advances   from    one    to  Tnetran- 

.  ,          sition  sen 

another  of  the  large  divisions  of  his  work,  it  often  be-  tence  and 
comes  desirable,  if  not  actually  necessary,  to  indicate,  p 
by  means  of  a  transition  paragraph,  the  step  he  is  to 
take.     More  often,  in  connecting  the   minor  divisions 
of  his  composition,  the  transition  sentence  is  required. 

Summaries,  and  transition  paragraphs  and  sentences,   Clearness 

.    .  and  cone 

assist  in  giving  clearness  and  coherence  to  long  com-  renceinthe 

.  .  long  com- 

positions, position 


158  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

ILLUSTRATIONS 
I   (Summary  and  transition) 

If,  then,  the  removal  of  the  causes  of  this  spirit  of  American  liberty 
be,  for  the  greater  part,  or  rather  entirely,  impracticable  ;  if  the  ideas 
of  criminal  process  be  inapplicable,  or  if  applicable  are  in  the  high- 
est degree  inexpedient,  what  way  yet  remains?  No  way  is  open 
but  the  third  and  last  —  to  comply  with  the  American  spirit  as 
necessary ;  or,  if  you  please,  to  submit  to  it  as  a  necessary  evil. 

EDMUND  BURKE:  "  Conciliation  with  the  Colonies." 

II  (Transition) 

Most  of  the  remarks  which  we  have  hitherto  made  on  the  public 
character  of  Milton,  apply  to  him  only  as  one  of  a  large  body.  We 
shall  proceed  to  notice  some  of  the  peculiarities  which  distinguished 
him  from  his  contemporaries.  And,  for  that  purpose,  it  is  necessary 
to  take  a  short  survey  of  the  parties  into  which  the  political  world 
was  at  that  time  divided. 

THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY  :  "  Essay  on  Milton." 

III.  The  second  chapter  of  "Silas  Marner"  contains  two  sum- 
maries close  together.  The  eighth  paragraph  summarizes  the  re- 
sults of  Marner's  solitary  life  at  Raveloe ;  the  tenth  paragraph 
summarizes  them  again,  more  fully  and  more  eloquently.  After  the 
two  summaries,  comes  this  transitional  paragraph,  which  prepares 
the  reader  for  Chapter  iii :  — 

"  But  about  the  Christmas  of  that  fifteenth  year  a  second  great 
change  came  over  Marner's  life,  and  his  history  became  blent,  in  a 
singular  manner,  with  the  life  of  his  neighbors." 

Chapter  iii  describes  how  Marners  life  became  blent  with  that 
of  his  neighbors. 

EXERCISE 

Select  from  an  English  classic  a  paragraph  that  is  both 
summarizing  and  transitional,  or  find  such  a  paragraph  in 
"  Silas  Marner,"  Chapter  xiv. 


THE   COMPOSITION  159 

A  very  important  part  of  the  composition  is  its  close,  The  con- 

r  elusion 

called  its  conclusion.  In  the  conclusion,  it  is  often 
desirable  to  summarize  what  has  been  done  in  the  entire 
work  (as  in  the  first  part  of  II  and  the  first  part  of  III 
under  the  following  illustrations),  to  restate  one's  pur- 
pose and  emphasize  the  fact  that  it  has  been  accom- 
plished, to  make  an  application  of  what  has  been  shown 
to  be  true  (as  in  III),  or  to  appeal  to  one's  readers  or 
hearers  (as  in  I),  —  in  short,  to  do  whatever  will  vitalize 
the  writing  as  a  whole. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  The  following  paragraph  is  the  conclusion  of  Ruskin's  "Of 
Kings'  Treasuries."    Its  introduction  was  given  on  pages  155  and  156.        • 

"  I  could  shape  for  you  other  plans ;  .  .  .  but  this  book  plan  is 
the  easiest  and  needfullest,  and  would  prove  a  considerable  tonic  to 
what  we  call  our  British  Constitution.  .  .  .  You  have  got  its  corn 
laws  repealed  for  it ;  try  if  you  cannot  get  corn  laws  established  for 
it,  dealing  in  a  better  bread  ;  —  bread  made  of  that  old  enchanted 
Arabian  grain,  the  Sesame,  which  opens  doors; — doors,  not  of 
robbers',  but  of  Kings',  Treasuries." 

II.  These,  then,  were  the  two  prime  characteristics  which  sum  up 
the  tendencies  of  Burke's  age  :  an  enormous  development  of  indus- 
try, and  the  first  germs  of  a  substitution  of  the  government  of  a 
whole  people  by  itself  for  the  exploded  and  tottering  system  of 
government  by  privileged  orders.     The  seeds  thus  sown  have  come 
up  with  unequal  rapidity,  yet  their  maturity  will  not  improbably  be 
contemporaneous.    The  organization  of  Labor  and  the  overthrow  of 
Privilege  are  tasks  which  we  may  expect  to  see  perfected  at  the  same 
time,  because  most  of  the  conditions  that  lie  about  the  root  of  the 
one  are  also  at  the  foundation  of  the  other.     When  we  can  grapple 
with  the  moral  confusion  that  reigns  in  one  field,  the  obstacles  in 
the  other  will  no  longer  discourage  or  baffle  us. 

JOHN  MORLEY  :  "  Edmund  Burke." 


160  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

III.  If  then  the  power  of  speech  is  a  gift  as  great  as  any  that 
can  be  named :  if  the  origin  of  language  is  by  many  philosophers 
even  considered  to  be  nothing  short  of  divine ;  if  by  means  of 
words  the  secrets  of  the  heart  are  brought  to  light,  pain  of  soul 
is  relieved,  hidden  grief  is  carried  off,  sympathy  conveyed,  counsel 
imparted,  experience  recorded,  and  wisdom  perpetuated ;  if  by  great 
authors  the  many  are  drawn  up  into  unity,  national  character  is 
fixed,  a  people  speaks,  the  past  and  the  future,  the  East  and  the 
West,  are  brought  into  communication  with  each  other,  —  it  will 
not  answer  to  make  light  of  Literature  or  to  neglect  its  study ; 
rather  we  may  be  sure  that,  in  proportion  as  we  master  it  in  any 
language  and  imbibe  its  spirit,  we  shall  ourselves  become  in  our  own 
measure  the  ministers  of  like  benefits  to  others  .  .  .  who  are  united  to 
us  by  social  ties  and  are  within  the  sphere  of  our  personal  influence. 
CARDINAL  NEWMAN:  "  Lectures  on  University  Subjects." 

EXERCISES 

I.  State  what  constitutes    the  introduction  of  Washington 
Irving's  "  The  Stage-Coach  "  in  "  The  Sketch-Book,"  and  what 
forms  the  conclusion  of  Webster's  first  Bunker  Hill  oration, 
or  give  the  introduction  and  the  conclusion  of  two  of  these 
essays  :  — 

1.  The  Spectator,  Number  108. 

2.  Carlyle's  "  Essay  on  Burns." 

3.  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Milton." 

4.  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Addison.1' 

II.  Discuss  the  following  outlines  :  — 

i.   A  SKETCH  OF  HEPZIHAH 

("  The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables  ") 
I.    Introduction. 
II.    Hepzibah  as  she  is  seen  by  the  world. 

i.    Inferences  regarding  her  character  from  her  appearance  and 
from  one  of  her  habits. 

a.  Her  scowl,  her  stiffness,  her  unbending  aspect. 

b.  Her  habit  of  keeping  aloof  from  her  fellow-men. 


THE   COMPOSITION  l6l 

III.    Hepzibah  as  she  actually  is  at  heart. 

1.  Tender-hearted  and  capable  of  much  self-sacrifice. 

a.  Her  love  and  care  for  Clifford. 

b.  Her  love  for  Phoebe. 

2.  Distant  and  reserved  only  with  those  she  is  afraid  will  pity  her. 
a.    Her  friendship  with  Uncle  Venner. 

IV.-  Conclusion. 

[The  introduction  and  the  conclusion  for  this  outline  might  have 
been  thus  indicated :  — 

Introduction :  Purpose  stated :  to  show  the  apparent  and  the 
real  Hepzibah. 

Conclusion:  The  difficulty  I  find  in  seeing  any  humor  in  this 
portrayal  of  a  most  pathetic  personality ;  my  failure  to  share  Haw- 
thorne's feeling  when  he  thus  writes  of  Hepzibah  opening  the  shop : 
"  Heaven  help  our  poor  old  Hepzibah,  and  forgive  us  for  taking  a 
ludicrous  view  of  her  position !  As  her  rigid  and  rusty  frame  goes 
down  upon  its  hands  and  knees,  in  quest  of  the  absconding  marbles, 
we  positively  feel  so  much  the  more  inclined  to  shed  tears  of  sym- 
pathy, from  the  very  fact  that  we  must  needs  turn  aside  and  laugh  at 
her." 

Note  that  under  2  but  one  subdivision  (a)  is  given.  In  an  out- 
line, there  should  be  no  a  without  a  h  to  succeed  it.  In  this  case, 
the  a  may  be  incorporated  with  the  2,  thus  :  — 

2.  Distant  and  reserved  only  with  those  she  is  afraid  will  pity  her, 
as  is  shown  by  her  friendship  for  Uncle  Venner.] 

2.  ALICE  PYNCHEON 
("  The  House  of  the  Seven  Gables  ") 
I.    Her  environment. 

1.  Crude. 

2.  Distasteful  to  her. 

a.  She  had  been  educated  in  Europe. 

b.  She  loved  beauty. 
II.   Her  desired  surroundings. 

1 .  Flowers. 

2.  Music. 

3.  All  other  things  refined  and  delicate. 


162  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

III.  Character. 

1.  Pure,  dignified,  and  maidenly. 
a.    Safeguards  from  moral  harm. 

2.  Influential.     When  she  was  sad  :  — 

a.  Her  flowers  drooped. 

b.  Her  harpsichord  became  melancholy. 

3.  Her  great  fault,  haughty  pride. 

IV.  Her  influence  on  Maule. 

1.  Attracted  him  by  :  — 

a.  Her  culture. 

b.  Her  refinement. 

c.  Her  beauty. 

2.  Angered  him  by  :  — 

a.  Her  pride. 

b.  Her  dislike  for  him. 

3.  Caused  him  to  try  to  break  her  will. 

a.  His  success,  making  him  triumphant. 

b.  The  result,  making  him  remorseful. 
V.    Her  influence  on  posterity. 

1.  Her  old  surroundings  seemed  haunted  by  her. 

2.  The  harpsichord  played  dolefully  when  death  came  to  the 

house. 

3.  Her  flowers  bloomed  in  full  when  great  joy  came  to  the 

house. 

[What  error  is  there  in  arrangement  or  in  the  use  of  figures  or 
letters  in  this  second  outline?] 

3.   DOCTOR  MANETTE 
(•'  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities  -1) 

I.    In  Paris.     In  the  garret;  shows  his  shattered  mind,  the  result 

of  long  imprisonment. 
II.    In  London.     A  new  man. 

I.    His  life  before  Lucie's  marriage. 

a.  Shows  his  affection. 

b.  Shows  his  knowledge. 


THE    COMPOSITION  163 

2.   Trouble  at  the  time  of  Lucie's  marriage  and  his  recovery 
from  the  trouble. 

a.  Shows  his  sensibility. 

b.  Shows  his  skill  in  handling  his  own  case. 

III.  In  Paris  again. 

1.  In  La  Force. 

2.  His  influence  among  the  populace. 

3.  His  victory. 

4.  The  reaction. 

5.  The  flight. 

IV.  Conclusion  :  The  question,  "  What  makes  Dr.  Manette  an  inter- 

esting character  ?  "  and  its  answer. 

[In  outlines,  similar  divisions  are  given  similar  forms  of  expression. 
Therefore,  i  under  III  should  become,  '•  His  experience  in  La  Force," 
to  correspond  in  form  with  2,  3,  4,  5.] 

4.    HISTORY  THE  PRIMARY  STUDY 
Introduction : 

The  welfare  of  the  people  depends  directly  upon  their  govern- 
ment. 
I.    The  best  government  is  a  democracy. 

1.  Athenian  Greece. 

2.  Republican  Rome. 

3.  England. 

4.  The  United  States. 

II.   An  enduring  republic  must  be  a  good  one. 

1.  Mexico  and  the  United  States. 

2.  The  Central  and  South  American  Republics. 

III.  The  quality  of  a  republic  depends  on  its  people. 

i.    The   people   must  understand   the  laws    and  functions  of 

government. 

a.   The  only  way  to  understand  the  laws  and  functions  of 
government  is  through  the  study  of  history. 

IV.  History  is  the  study  that  includes  all  others. 
Conclusion  :  History  is  the  heart  of  all  education. 

[What  error  is  there  in  arrangement  or  in  the  use  of  figures  or 
letter  in  this  last  outline  ?] 


164  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

III.  Make  the  outline  for  a  composition  on  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing subjects :  — 

1.  An  Incident  in  my  Life  which  would  Make  a  Good  Story. 

2.  The  Most  Interesting  Person  I  have  Known. 

3.  My  Favorite  Character  in  History. 

4.  Where  I  Like  to  be  during  a  Storm. 

5.  The  Walk  I  Most  Enjoy. 

6.  The  Reading  of  Godfrey's  Will  at  the  Rainbow. 

[In  "Silas  Marner,"  Chapter  xx,  Nancy  says,  "You  won't  make 
it  known,  then,  about  Eppie's  being  your  daughter  ?  "  and  Godfrey 
answers,  "  I  shall  put  it  in  my  will."  ] 

Abstract  An  abstract  gives  the  essential  parts  of  some  larger 

defined 

composition,  but  is  not,  necessarily,  an  outline. 

• 

EXERCISE 

Write  a  paragraph  that  shall  be  an  abstract  of  some  speech 
with  which  you  are  familiar,  or  of  one  of  the  De  Coverley 
Papers. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

ANSWERS   TO   PUPILS'   INQUIRIES  — V 
Letters 

THE  following  model  gives  a  suitable  heading,  address, 

and  closing  for  a  friendly  letter.     The  proper  indenta-  HOW  to  in- 
dent para- 
tion  for  the  first  and  that  for  succeeding  paragraphs  graphs 

are  indicated.  Note  that  the  first  word  of  the  opening 
paragraph  comes  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  end  of  the 
address  —  the  salutation  —  and  that  succeeding  para- 
graphs begin  at  the  regular  paragraph  margin. 


94  EUCLID  AVENUE,  CLEVELAND,  OHIO, 
January  23,   1906. 


MY  DEAR  KATHARINE: 

We  thank  you  most  warmly^ 


Heading, 
address, 
and  closing 
for  a 
friendly 
letter 


Yesterday,  in  the  afternoon,  _.  

Faithfully  yours, 

AGNES  G.  COMSTOCK. 


165 


166  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

It  is  correct  to  arrange  a  note  like  this  :  — 


94  EUCLID  AVENUE, 

CLEVELAND,  OHIO. 

MY  DEAR  KATHARINE, 


Yours  sincerely, 

AGNES  G.  COMSTOCK. 


January  23,  1906. 


When  to 
write  out 
the  date 


Different 
ways  of 
closing  a 
letter 


Punctua- 
tion of 
heading 
and  super- 
scription 


The  date  may  be  written  out  when  it  is  placed  at  the 
end  of  a  somewhat  formal  friendly  letter ;  as,  January 
the  twenty-third,  nineteen  hundred  and  six. 

A  writer  need  not  be  confined  to  one  or  two  ways  of 
subscribing  himself.  Yours  cordially,  Gratefully  yours, 
Yours  faithfully,  Yours  with  sincere  regard,  and  many 
other  expressions  may  be  appropriate. 

Authorities1  on  the  subject  of  letter-writing  sanction 
the  omission  of  punctuation  marks  (except  the  period 
after  an  abbreviation)  from  the  heading  of  a  letter  and 
from  its  superscription.  For  example  : 

94  EUCLID  AVE. 

CLEVELAND  OHIO 

1  See  F.  B.  Callaway :  "  Studies  for  Letters,"  Chapter  vi. 


LETTERS 


167 


Miss  AGNES  COMSTOCK 

94  EUCLID  AVE. 

CLEVELAND 

OHIO 


If  the  superscription  is   punctuated,  the  marks  are 
used  as  indicated  below  :  — 


Miss  SARAH  CAREY, 

52  REVERE  ST., 

MARLBORO, 

NEW  YORK. 


In  a  friendly  letter,  one  not  only  tells  what  will  be  of  what  a 

friendly 

interest  to  one  s  correspondent,  but  also  asks  about  him  letter 

i  i_-     vr     1  requires 

and  his  life.1 


1  In  "Studies  for   Letters"  are  many  charming  selections  from  the 
correspondence  of  well-known  men  and  women.    (See  footnote,  page  166.) 


1 68 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Arrange- 
ment of  a 
business 
letter 


EXERCISE 

Meet  one  of  the  following  requirements  :  — 

I.  As  guest  at  a  mutual  friend's,  write  a  letter  to  a  school- 
mate. 

II.  From  a  foreign  city  that  you  both  have  wished  to  visit, 
write  to  a  cousin  at  home. 

III.  Write  to  a  brother  or  sister  who  has  been  ill  and  has 
gone  away  from  home  to  recuperate.     Let  your  letter  cheer 
and  entertain. 

A  letter  of  business  is  more  formal  than  one  of  friend- 
ship, and  may  be  thus  arranged  :  — 

500  PINE  ST.,  SYRACUSE,  N.Y., 

Feb.  5,  1902. 
MR.  ROBERT  S.  GKEEN, 
23  Lovejoy  St., 

Cambridge,  Ohio. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

Please  send  me  circulars  describing  your  new 
flour-sifters.  If  they  prove  to  be  what  I  think  they  are,  I 
shall  wish  to  carry  a  line  of  them. 

Very  truly  yours, 

AMBROSE  FERNALD. 


Subscrip- 
tions for 
business 
letters 


Other  ways  of  subscribing  oneself  in  a  business  letter 
are  :  Respectfully  yours,  Yours  most  truly,  Your  obe- 
dient servant,  Yours  with  respect. 

Had  the  letter  of  Ambrose  Fernald  been  addressed 
to  a  business  house  instead  of  to  one  man,  it  might 
have  opened  thus : — 


LETTERS  169 

500  PINE  ST.,  SYRACUSE,  N.Y.,          Form  of 

February  5,   1902.  address 

when 


MESSRS.  ROBERT  S.  GREEN  &  Co., 

23  Lovejoy  St.,  house 

Cambridge,  Ohio. 

GENTLEMEN  :  — 

Gentlemen,  being  somewhat  more  formal,  is  often  pref- 
erable to  Dear  Sirs  as  a  form  of  address. 

EXERCISE 

Write  the  reply  to  Mr.  Fernald. 

[Remember  that  a  business  letter  should  be  so  legible  that  it 
is  easily  read,  and  should  be  clearly  and  concisely  expressed.] 

When  writing  on  business  to  an  official  of  high  rank,  when  to  use 
one  uses  Sir  alone,  in  the  address,  not  Dear  Sir. 

Dear  Madam  is  the  proper  impersonal  form  of  address  The  use  of 
for  either  a  married  or  an  unmarried  woman  ;  Miss  is  not 
used  thus,  impersonally. 

When  writing  to  a  stranger,  a  woman  may,  to  avoid  ways  of 

.  writing  a 

(Mrs.)  woman's 

misunderstanding,  sign  herself  thus :        or       Mary  B.   slsnature 

(Miss) 

Munroe.     A  married  woman  often  signs  both  her  own 
given  name  and  that  of  her  husband,  in  this  way  :  — 

Sincerely  yours, 

MARY  B.  MUNROE. 
Address, 
MRS.  SILAS  A.  MUNROE. 


I/O 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


How  to 
enclose 
postage- 
stamps 


A  resigna- 
tion from 
a  club 


She  does  this  because,  while  it  is  proper  for  her  to  sign 
her  own  name,  it  is  proper  for  her  correspondent  to 
address  her  by  her  husband's  name,  if  he  be  living. 

If  a  postage-stamp  is  enclosed  in  a  letter,  it  is  well 
not  to  make  it  adhere,  but,  in  a  convenient  place  on  the 
paper,  to  cut  two  slits  a  little  longer  than  the  width  of 
the  stamp  and  about  a  sixteenth  of  an  inch  apart,  and 
slip  the  stamp  under  the  band  thus  formed.  Sheets 
of  postage-stamps  have  an  edge  of  waste  paper  with 
adhesive  matter  like  that  on  the  postage-stamps.  By 
attaching  merely  this  adhesive  edge,  postage-stamps 
may  be  properly  enclosed  in  a  business  letter. 

The  following  are  suitable  forms  for  notes  of  various 
kinds :  — 

I 

10  FOURTH  PLACE, 

January  28,  1903. 
MRS.  CHARLES  H.  GOODALE, 

Secretary  of  the  Lowell  Club. 

My  DEAR  MRS.  GOODALE: 

It  is  a  disappointment  to  me  that  I  cannot 
retain  my  membership  in  the  Lowell  Club  after  February 
first. 

Regretting  that  I  must  send  my  resignation,  I  am 

Sincerely  yours, 

MARTHA  SUDBURY. 

[The  names  of  city  and  state  are  omitted  from  the  heading  of  I, 
because  both  the  writer  of  the  letter  and  its  recipient  live  in  the 
same  city.] 


LETTERS 


171 


II 


62  WILDING  STREET, 

GALESBURG,  NEW  YORK. 
MY  DEAR  Miss  STOWE, 

The  beautiful  picture  came  this  morning.  I 
wonder  whether  you  know  that  I  have  been  to  see  it  re- 
peatedly this  winter  and  have  hoped  that  some  one  of  my 
friends  would  purchase  it,  that  it  might  not  be  lost  to  me. 
To  own  it  myself  is  rare  good  fortune,  for  which  I  thank 
you. 

Though  I  prize  my  picture  highly,  I  value  the  note  that 
came  with  it  even  more. 


Sincerely  yours, 


KATHARINE  HELD. 


Saturday,  February  the  seventeenth. 


An  ac- 
knowledg- 
ment of  a 
gift 


III 


203  HAWES  STREET, 

WINCHESTER,  IOWA. 
MY  DEAR  MR.  HAMMOND  : 

My  young  friend,  Mr.  Estabrook,  will  present 
this  note  to  you.  Perhaps  you  will  remember  that  Mr. 
Estabrook's  mother  was  most  kind  to  our  sons  while  they 
were  in  Washington  last  winter. 

Mr.  Estabrook  is  to  study  in  New  York  and  will  grate- 
fully receive  any  information  that  you  are  able  to  give  him 
regarding  instructors.  A  word  from  you  may  save  him 
from  some  serious  mistake. 

Whatever  you  do  for  my  friend,  I  shall  appreciate. 
Sincerely  yours, 

HENRY  JACKSON. 
September  25,  1904. 


A  note  of 
introduc- 
tion 


1/2 


PRINCIPLES  OF    RHETORIC 


Superscrip- 
tion for 
note  of  in- 
troduction l 


The  superscription  on  the  envelope  of  the  preceding  may  be :  — 


A  note  of 
congratu- 
lation 


MR.  CHARLES  HAMMOND 


Introducing  Mr.  Estabrook 


IV 
256  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK.  CITY, 

April  10,  1904. 
DEAR  COUSIN  HAL  : 

Aren't  you  a  fortunate  boy  !  I  am  glad  that 
you  are  to  have  so  much  pleasure.  A  summer  in  Norway 
will  be  a  delightful  experience  and  you  earned  it  by  last 
year's  splendid  record.  I  hope  that  ail  the  winds  will  blow 
from  the  right  quarter,  and  that  you  will  enjoy  the  trip  even 
more  than  you  anticipate. 

We  expect  to  be  in  the  city  next  week,  and  shall,  of 
course,  visit  your  father's  office.  Are  we  likely  to  find 
you  there  ? 

Affectionately  yours, 

RICHARD  SUTHERLAND. 

1  To  introduce  friends  in  a  social  way,  one  may  write  on  the  back  of 
one's  visiting-card,  thus : 

Introducing 

Miss  Edith  Long 

of  Worcester 
to 

Miss  Mary  Field, 

Smith  College, 

Northampton. 


FORMAL   NOTES  173 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  furnish  a  model  for  a  note  of  A  note  of 

sympathy 

sympathy.  Its  arrangement  may  be  like  that  of  II,  but 
what  is  said  must  be  so  entirely  the  writer's  own  that 
no  one  else  can  dictate  it.  Nothing  but  genuine  feeling 
makes  a  note  of  sympathy  acceptable. 


EXERCISES 

I.  Write  a  note  to  a  friend  in  acknowledgment  of  a  birth- 
day gift. 

II.  Write  an  informal  note  to  an  ex-member  of  your  class, 
inviting  him,  or  her,  to  a  class  "  spread." 

III.  Write  an  informal  acceptance  of  an  invitation  to  the 
"  spread  "  referred  to  in  II. 

IV.  Write  a  resignation  from  a  Shakespeare  Club. 

V.  Write  a  note  introducing  one  friend  to  another. 

Formal  Notes 

Visiting  and  at-home  cards  are  so  often  utilized  to  Few  formal 
take  the  place  of  notes  of  invitation   that  one  is  not  invitation 
likely  to  write  many  of  the  latter.     Formal  invitations  requir 
are  usually  engraved  and  change  somewhat,  from  year 
to  year,  in  wording  and  arrangement.    If  for  any  reason 
one  had  to  write  a  formal  note  of  invitation,  it  might  be 
somewhat  like  the  following  :  — 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Aiken  Dinner 

request  the  pleasure  of  Mr.  Seymour's  company 

at  dinner 
on  Thursday,  March  the  tenth,  at 

eight  o'clock. 
506  Huron  Avenue. 


174 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Invitation 
for  a  recep- 
tion 


Request  for 
an  answer 


Form  of 
invitation 
suitable 
fora 
visiting- 
card 


A  regret 


You  are  invited  to  attend  the 

Annual  Reception  of  the  Radford  Club 

at  the  residence  of  Miss  Clarke 

55  Arlington  Street 

on  the  evening  of  February  the  fourteenth. 
The  favor  of  an  answer  is  requested. 

R.s.v.p.,  the  abbreviation  of  a  French  expression 
meaning  "  please  reply,"  was  formerly  used  a  good 
deal.  Now,  however,  an  English  equivalent  like  that 
in  the  preceding  form  is  preferred. 

[Note  that  commas  are  omitted  from  the  reception  invitation, — 
the  separation  made  by  the  lines  being  considered  sufficient,  —  but 
are  used  in  the  invitation  that  follows.  There  is  no  fixed  rule  for 
such  forms.  It  is,  however,  always  correct  so  to  express  and  punc- 
tuate an  invitation  that  it  cannot  be  misinterpreted.] 


Mrs.  John  Bryce, 
Wednesday,  June  the  tenth, 

four  .to  six. 
Music.  112  Emery  Place. 


A  formal  note  of  regret  and  one  of  acceptance  are 
given  below  : l  — 

Miss  White  regrets  that  a  previous 
engagement  prevents  her  acceptance 
of  Mrs.  Forrest's  kind  invitation  for 
Monday,  June  the  twentieth. 

212  Washington  Avenue, 
June  the  eighth. 

1  In  such  formal  notes,  the  date  should  always  be  written  out.     Figures 
may  be  used  only  for  the  street  number. 


ANSWERS   TO    PUPILS1    INQUIRIES  175 

Miss  White  accepts  with  pleasure  An  accept 

and  with  thanks  Mrs.  Forrest's  invi-  ance 

tation  for  Monday  next. 

212  Washington  Avenue, 
June  the  thirteenth. 

The  kind  of  invitation  received  indicates  the  proper  The  form 
form  for  the^reply  :  a  formal  invitation  suggests  a  formal 
reply ;  an  informal  note  requires  an  informal  answer. 

The  sign  &  should  not  be  substituted  within  the  body  caution 
of  a  letter  for  the  conjunction  and. 

While  a  friendly  letter  should  be  answered  within  a  prompt 
reasonable  length  of  time,  an  invitation,  a  business  note,   necessary 
or  a  note  asking  for  information,  requires  an  immediate 
reply. 


CHAPTER   XVII 
THE   STUDY  OF   POEMS 
why  poems       A   POEM   carries  some  revelation   of  truth  from  the 

are  written 

poet  to  other  men.     Emerson  says,  that 

"  The  gods  talk  in  the  breath  of  the  woods, 

They  talk  in  the  shaken  pine, 
And  fill  the  long  reach  of  the  old  seashore 
With  dialogue  divine ;  " 

and  that  the  poet  who  overhears  one  of  their  words 
becomes  the  master  of  men,  because  of  what  he  has 
thus  learned. 

The  truth  revealed  to  a  poet  is  too  valuable  to  be  kept 
to  himself.  He  tells  it,  possibly  in  a  somewhat  myste- 
rious way.  Sometimes,  those  who  read  his  verses  can- 
not at  first  interpret  them  ;  not,  perhaps,  because  the 
writer  is  vague  or  careless,  but  because  they  have  not 
the  experience  or  the  imagination  that  would  enable 
them  to  understand  what  he  says.  "  He  is  a  seer," 
writes  Carlyle  of  the  poet ;  "  a  gift  of  vision  has  been 
given  him.  Has  life  no  meanings  for  him  which  an- 
other cannot  equally  decipher,  then  he  is  no  poet." 

EXERCISES 

I.  Discuss  the  following  work.  The  pupils  who  wrote  i  and 
2  tried  to  show  the  truth  conveyed  by  the  poems  ;  the  writers 

176 


THE    STUDY    OF   POEMS  177 

of  3  and  4  attempted  a  little  more  than  that.     What  has  been 
done  in  3  and  in  4  ? 

i .   ALADDIN 

When  I  was  a  beggarly  boy, 

And  lived  in  a  cellar  damp, 
I  had  not  a  friend  or  a  toy, 

But  I  had  Aladdin's  lamp  ; 
When  I  could  not  sleep  for  the  cold, 

I  had  fire  enough  in  my  brain, 
And  builded,  with  roofs  of  gold. 

My  beautiful  castles  in  Spain. 

Since  then  I  have  toiled  day  and  night, 

I  have  money  and  power  good  store. 
But  Td  give  all  my  lamps  of  silver  bright 

For  the  one  that  is  mine  no  more : 
Take,  Fortune,  whatever  you  choose, 

You  give  and  may  snatch  again  ; 
I  have  nothing  'twould  pain  me  to  lose, 

For  I  own  no  more  castles  in  Spain. 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 

I  realize,  as  I  read  this  poem,  the  power  and  scope  of  the 
faculty  called  fancy  or  imagination.  The  poet  gives  me  this 
realization  by  contrasting  the  actual  condition  of  things  in  the 
life  of  the  boy  with  the  purely  ideal  condition  that  the  boy's 
fancy  creates.  Four  times  the  poet  speaks  of  this  God-given 
power,  imagination,  and  makes  us  feel  how  utterly  useless  our 
accomplishments  and  material  possessions  are,  if  in  the  getting 
of  them  we  have  lost  that  priceless  treasure.  We  almost  envy 
the  beggarly  boy  in  his  damp  cellar,  friendless  and  alone,  but 
cheered  and  comforted  by  his  wonderful  lamp,  which  could 
surround  him  with  riches  and  place  him  among  the  luxuries  of 
a  castle  in  Spain  !  For  the  simply  rich  man,  we  feel  pity.  His 
lot  is  sad  compared  with  that  of  the  beggar  boy. 


i;8-  PRINCIPLES  OF  RHETORIC 

This  poem  recalls  to  my  mind  Lowell's  "  The  Heritage  "  and 
Whittier's  "  The  Barefoot  Boy,"  where  the  simple*  pleasures  of 
youth  dominated  by  fancy  compare  so  favorably  with  the  gains 
of  the  rich  man.  I  am  also  reminded  of  the  great  joy  that  came 
to  little  Sara  Crewe  in  her  cold  attic,  from  this  wonderful  gift 
of  fancy. 

2.  MY  BEES:  AN  ALLEGORY1 

This  allegory  describes  the  care  expended  upon  a  hive  of 
bees,  and  the  subsequent  failure  to  secure  good  results. 

The  hive  is  placed  close  by  a  field  of  fragrant  flowers.  It  is 
expected  that  the  inmates  will  feast  upon  the  sweet  blossoms 
and  lay  up  a  good  supply  of  honey.  The  place  chosen  for  the 
hive  is  in  the  shade  of  a  pine-grove  ;  thus,  thoughtful  care  for 
the  comfort  of  the  bees  is  indicated. 

At  the  time  of  harvest  the  owner  goes  to  gather  his  honey, 
but  he  finds,  upon  opening  the  hive,  that  the  bees  have 
swarmed  to  another  place  ;  there  is  no  honey. 

On  the  lookout  for  some  trace  of  his  wayward  bees,  he  fol- 
lows one  of  them  which  has  loitered  behind,  and  discovers  the 
truants  and  the  stolen  honey.  But  another  disappointment 
comes.  The  bees  have  fed  on  rank,  bitter  herbs,  and  the 
honey  is  not  sweet. 

This  allegory  parallels  the  representations  of  the  Hebrew 
prophet,  who,  voicing  Jehovah's  thoughts,  says  :  "  My  people 
have  committed  two  evils ;  they  have  forsaken  Me,  the  Foun- 
tain of  Living  Water,,  and  have  hewed  out  for  themselves  cis- 
terns—  broken  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water."  In  this 
denunciation  the  prophet  charges  the  people  with  having  com- 
mitted two  sins  :  they  have  forsaken  Jehovah,  and  they  have 
lived  degenerate  lives.  The  latter  fact  is  represented  by  the 
leaky  cisterns  of  drainage  water. 

l  Helen  Hunt  Jackson  (H.  H.). 


THE    STUDY   OF    POEMS  179 

3.   THE  STORY  OF  UNG  1 

In  the  very  fact  that  the  criticism  of  some  men  is  blind,  con- 
sists the  difference  between  them  and  the  genius  they  criticise, 
—  that  difference  which  measures  them  as  little  and  him  as 
great.  This  is  the  truth  brought  out  in  Kipling's  "  Story  of 
Ung." 

Ung  is  an  artist  whose  images  and  pictures  are  recognized 
by  his  fellow- tribesmen  as  true  to  life.  Yet  suddenly  it  occurs 
to  these  same  men  that  it  cannot  be  the  truth  that  Ung  por- 
trays, since  he  has  not  done  as  they  have  done  :  slept  with  the 
aurochs,  watched  where  the  mastodon  roam,  followed  the  sabre- 
tooth  home.  How  can  he  know  about  such  things?  He  must 
be  cheating  them. 

But  the  father  of  Ung,  to  whom  the  artist  goes  in  discourage- 
ment, points  out  to  him,  that  if  these  men  who  doubt  him 
could  themselves  see  as  he  sees,  they  would  do  as  he  has  done 
and  his  genius  would  be  as  naught.  It  is  their  very  blindness 
that  makes  him  great.  Because  they  can  only  see  while  he 
can  perceive,  come  their  praise,  their  gifts,  even  their  scoffs,  in 
acknowledgment  of  his  clearer  vision.  These  truths  are  brought 
out  very  significantly  in  the  lines  :  — 

" '  If  they  could  see  as  thou  see'st  they  would  do  what  thou  hast  done, 
And  each  man  would  make  him  a  picture,  and  what  would  become 
of  my  son  ? ' " 

And  again,  decisively,  in  the  last  words  of  the  father  :  — 
"'Son  that  can  see  so  clearly,  rejoice  that  thy  tribe  is  blind.'" 

After  hearing  his  father's  words,  Ung  goes  to  work  again, 
"  blessing  his  tribe  for  their  blindness."  At  last  he  under- 
stands that  the  lack  in  the  nature  of  another  man  may  work 

1  Rutlyard  Kipling. 


180  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

for  the  good  of  his  neighbor,  if  the  neighbor  can  supply  that 
lack. 

Ung's  true  love  of  his  art  is  well  shown  in  the  first  stanza, 
when  he  whistles  and  sings  gayly  as  he  fashions  the  snow-image, 
and  again  when  "  out  of  the  love  that  he  bore  them  "  he  scribes 
upon  bone  the  animals  he  knows. 

That  his  art  was  really  great  we  may  see  by  the  pleased  atti- 
tude of  his  tribe,  who  came  in  their  hundreds  to  scan  his  work, 

"  Handled  it,  smelt  it,  and  grunted,  '  Verily,  this  is  a  man  ! 
Thus  do  we  carry  our  lances,  thus  is  a  war-belt  slung. 
Ay,  it  is  even  as  we  are.     Glory  and  honor  to  Ung  ! '  " 

and  from  the  fact  that  they  came  again,  all  the  workers  of  the 
Northland  and  the  common  people,  peering  and  pushing  and 
still.  Their  doubt,  their  very  accusations,  prove  that  Ung  was 
a  master.  His  work  was  great  enough  to  disagree  over.  Had 
it  not  approached  the  truth,  it  would  not  have  been  worth  the 
questioning. 

The  argument  of  Ung's  father  is  convincing,  not  only  from 
his  comprehension  of  the  situation  from  a  philosophical  stand- 
point, but  also  from  his  setting  forth  of  the  material  side  of  the 
matter ;  so  that  Ung,  remembering  the  presents  on  which  he 
lives,  is  led  to  look  down  at  his  deerskins  with  their  broad  shell- 
tasselled  bands,  to  draw  the  mittens  from  his  naked  hands,  and 
recollect  the  hard  life  in  which  he  was  never  fitted  to  take  part. 
That  little  mention  of  the  praise  no  gift  can  buy  and  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  presents  shall  be  returned,  are  subtle. 

Kipling's  "  Once  "  at  the  very  start  gains  attention  ;  and 
the  italicized  words,  "  Read  ye  the  story  of  Ung !  "  draw  one 
onward. 

The  stanza  already  quoted,  in  which  the  tribe  come  to  see 
the  image  of  snow,  is  the  one  that  I  like  best.  In  the  verse 
that  begins 


THE   STUDY   OF   POEMS  l8l 

"  Thou  hast  not  stood  to  the  aurochs,  where  the  red  snow  reeks  of 
the  fight,"  * 

there  is  a  hint  of  Ung's  power  beyond  that  of  the  men  around 
him,  which  makes  one  feel  how  far-reaching  was  the  light  by 
which  he  saw. 

The  description  of  the  "  Mountainous  mammoth,  hairy,  ab- 
horrent, alone,"  is  graphic ;    as  is  also  that  of  the  common 
people, 
"  Men  of  the  berg-battered  beaches,  men  of  the  boulder-hatched  hill." 

[Do  you  like  the  father's  appeal  to  Ung's  selfishness  ?  Re- 
construct the  first  sentence  in  the  paragraph  before  the  last  so 
that  the  use  of  "  the  one  "  (page  65)  will  be  avoided.] 

4.   OPPORTUNITY 

This  I  beheld,  or  dreamed  it  in  a  dream  :  — 

There  spread  a  cloud  of  dust  along  a  plain ; 

And  underneath  the  cloud,  or  in  it,  raged 

A  furious  battle,  and  man  yelled,  and  swords 

Shocked  upon  swords  and  shields.     A  prince's  banner 

Wavered,  then  staggered  backward,  hemmed  by  foes. 

A  craven  hung  along  the  battle's  edge,  and  thought, 

"  Had  I  a  sword  of  keener  steel  — 

That  blue  blade  that  the  king's  son  bears,  —  but  this 

Blunt  thing  ! " —     He  snapt  and  flung  it  from  his  hand, 

And,  lowering,  crept  away  and  left  the  field. 

Then  came  the  king's  son,  wounded,  sore  bestead, 

And  weaponless,  and  saw  the  broken  sword, 

Hilt-buried  in  the  dry  and  trodden  sand. 

And  ran  and  snatched  it,  and  with  battle  shout 

Lifted  afresh,  he  hewed  his  enemy  down, 

And  saved  a  great  cause  that  heroic  day. 

EDWARD  ROWLAND  SII.L. 

The  truth  conveyed  by  Sill's  poem  "Opportunity,"  is,  Not  The  truth 
upon  the  equipment  for  doing  depends  the  gaining  of  some- 


182  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

thing  desirable,  but  upon  the  ability  to  see  an  opportunity  and 
the  spirit  to  take  advantage  of  it,  be  the  equipment  ever  so  poor. 
HOW  told  The  truth  is  given  through  the  story,  in  which  the  spirit  of 

the  coward,  who  excuses  his  cowardice  by  the  lack  of  a  suitable 
weapon  and  then  slinks  away,  is  contrasted  with  that  of  the 
prince,  who  seizes  the  weapon  broken  and  cast  aside  by  the 
coward,  and  uses  it  toward  the  saving  of  a  great  cause. 
Why  told  as        The  meaning  is  given  in  this  way  because  a  concrete  pres- 
entation of  a  truth  is  more  forcible  than  one  that  is  abstract. 
HOW  the  The  story  is  both  interesting  and  dramatic.     The  opening 

gainsand  nne  secures  interest  by  promising  something  of  the  writer's  per- 
hoids  inter-  sonai  experience,  in  reality  or  in  a  dream.  The  intimation  that 
it  may  have  been  a  dream  satisfies  the  doubter,  who  always 
asks,  "  Was  it  true?"  The-  cloud  of  dust  along  a  plain  makes 
one  ready  to  believe  that  the  fight  was  a  furious  one.  Because 
of  the  writer's  careful  choice  of  words,  one  hears  the  angry 
voices  of  the  men  and  the  resounding  of  swords  and  shields. 
The  character  of  the  craven  is  suggested  as,  thinking,  —  instead 
of  acting,  —  "  he  hung  along  the  battle  edge  "  and  as  he 

"...  lowering,  crept  away  and  left  the  field." 

Keener  steel,  blue  blade,  blunt  thing,  snapt  and  flung,  are  forcible 
expressions. 

TWO  types  The  craven  stands  for  the  man  who  always  could  do  some 
repnjsented  great  thing  if  he  were  only  as  well  equipped  as  his  successful 
neighbor  is,  for  the  man  who  "never  has  a  chance";  while 
the  prince  stands  for  the  man  who  does  not  wait  for  chance, 
but  makes  the  best  of  his  circumstances  with  .what  he  has  at 
hand.  The  one  selfishly  or  lazily  ignores  his  opportunity  ;  the 
other  improves,  or,  if  necessary,  makes  his  opportunity. 

II.    (Refer  to  the  poem  on  page  181.) 
i.    What  words  —  adjectives  and  verbs  —  help  to  reveal  the 
character  of  the  prince  ? 


THE    STUDY    OF   POEMS  183 

2.   Make  a  list  of  the  specific  verbs  used. 
[Note  the  use  of  direct  discourse  in  the  poem.] 
III.   Study  the  following  poem  :  — 

YUSSOUF 

A  stranger  came  one  night  to  Yussouf's  tent, 
Saying,  "  Behold  one  outcast  and  in  dread, 

Against  whose  life  the  bow  of  power  is  bent, 
Who  flies,  and  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head ; 

I  come  to  thee  for  shelter  and  for  food, 

To  Yussouf,  called  through  all  our  tribes  '  The  Good.1  " 

"  This  tent  is  mine,"  said  Yussouf,  "  but  no  more 
Than  it  is  God's  ;  come  in,  and  be  at  peace ; 

Freely  shalt  thou  partake  of  all  my  store 
As  I  of  His  who  buildeth  over  these 

Our  tents  His  glorious  roof  of  night  and  day, 

And  at  whose  door  none  ever  yet  heard  Nay." 

So  Yussouf  entertained  his  guest  that  night, 
And,  waking  him  ere  day,  said  :  "  Here  is  gold, 

My  swiftest  horse  is  saddled  for  thy  flight, 
Depart  before  the  prying  day  grow  bold." 

As  one  lamp  lights  another,  nor  grows  less, 

So  nobleness  enkindleth  nobleness. 

That  inward  light  the  stranger's  face  made  grand, 
Which  shines  from  all  self-conquest ;  kneeling  low, 

He  bowed  his  forehead  upon  Yussouf \s  hand, 
Sobbing  :  "  O  Sheik,  I  cannot  leave  thee  so  ; 

I  will  repay  thee  ;  all  this  thou  hast  done 

Unto  that  Ibrahim  who  slew  thy  son!" 

"  Take  thrice  the  gold,"  said  Yussouf,  "  for  with  thee 

Into  the  desert,  never  to  return, 
My  one  black  thought  shall  ride  away  from  me ; 


184  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

First-born,  for  whom  by  day  and  night  I  yearn, 
Balanced  and  just  are  all  of  God's  decrees  ; 
Thou  art  avenged,  my  first-born,  sleep  in  peace  ! " 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL. 

IV.    ( Refer  to  "Yussouf.") 

1 .  Make  a  list  of  the  six  expressions  descriptive  of  the  man 
that  seeks  shelter  and  food. 

2.  Why  does  the  outcast  come  to  Yussouf  rather  than  to 
another? 

3.  The  tent  of  Yussouf  is  builded  within  what  other  tent? 
His  hospitality  is  modelled  upon  what  other? 

[Yussoufs  words  in  the  second  stanza  are  like  those  of  the 
bishop  in  "  Les  Mise"rables  " l  when  the  convict  comes  to  his 
door :  "  You  need  not  tell  me  who  you  are.  This  is  not  my 
house  ;  it  is  the  house  of  Christ.  .  .  .  You  are  suffering ;  you 
are  hungry  and  thirsty  ;  be  welcome.  And  do  not  thank  me ; 
do  not  tell  me  that  I  take  you  into  my  house.  This  is  the 
home  of  no  man  except  him  who  needs  an  asylum.  I  tell  you, 
who  are  a  traveller,  that  you  are  more  at  home  here  than  I  am."] 

4.  Quote  the  lines  in  the  first  stanza  which  make  one  realize 
how  much  the  words  "  and  be  at  peace  "  mean  to  the  stranger. 

5.'  After  wakening  his  guest  (third  stanza),  does  Yussouf  do 
for  him  more  or  less  than  he  has  been  asked  to  do  ? 

6.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  last  two  lines  of  the  third 
stanza  ? 

7.  How  is  it  that  the   confession  of  Ibrahim  repays  the 
Sheik?     What  does  it  give  to  him?     What  does  it  take  away 
from  him? 

8.  What  has  been  Yussoufs  "one  black  thought"?     Why 
will  it  ride  away  with  the  stranger? 

9.  What  expressions  in  the  last  stanza  show  how  dear  the 
slain  son  is  to  his  father? 

1  Victor  Hugo. 


THE    STUDY   0F   POEMS  185 

10.  Distinguish  between  revenged  and.  avenged 'in  meaning. 

11.  Had  Yussouf  known  when  the  stranger  first  came  that 
he  was  the  slayer  of  his  son,  might  he  have  sought  revenge? 
How  is  the  son  now  avenged  ? 

[Yussouf  himself —  probably  by  his  habit  of  doing  good  deeds, 
as  well  as  by  his  hospitality  to  the  outcast  —  unwittingly  pre- 
pared the  means  that  should  rid  him  of  his  one  evil  thought 
and  give  him  resignation,  that  should  also  nobly  avenge  his  son 
and  enable  him  to  "  sleep  in  peace."] 

12.  What  truth  does  the  poem  impart? 

13.  Note  the  simplicity  and  directness  of  the  entire  poem. 

14.  Find  an  epithet  (page  82)  and  a  simile   (page  87)   in 
the  third  stanza. 

15.  What  does  the  relative  clause  in  the  second  line  of  the 
fourth  stanza  modify? 

V.  Discuss  the  following  paragraph,  written  about  the  lines 
that  precede  it. 

i.   "THE  VISION  OF  SIR   LAUNFAL  "  (Part   II,  Lines  240-249) 

There  was  never  a  leaf  on  bush  or  tree, 
The  bare  boughs  rattled  shudderingly ; 
The  river  was  numb  and  could  not  speak, 

For  the  weaver  Winter  its  shroud  had  spun  ; 
A  single  crow  on  the  tree-top  bleak 

From  his  shining  feathers  shed  off  the  cold  sun. 
Again  it  was  morning,  but  shrunk  and  cold, 
As  if  her  veins  were  sapless  and  old, 
And  she  rose  up  decrepitly 
For  a  last  dim  look  at  earth  and  sea. 

This  is  a  picture  of  winter  in  its  most  desolate  aspect. 
The  winter  is  represented  as  a  weaver,  covered  with  a  shroud 
of  snow  woven  by  itself.  Calling  the  snow  a  shroud  rather 
than  a  mantle  or  covering  shows  the  difference  between  the 


1 86  PRINCIPLES.  OF  RHETORIC 

brightness  of  the  snow  sometimes,  when  each  crystal  glistens 
in  the  sun,  and  the  dreariness  of  it  that  morning,  when  even 
the  crow's  feathers  "  shed  off  the  cold  sun."  The  personifica- 
tion of  morning  as  an  old  decrepit  woman,  peering  dimly  at 
earth  and  sea,  is  such  a  contrast  to  the  joyousness  and  sun- 
shine with  which  morning  is  usually  represented  that  one  sees 
how  gray  everything  looked.  When  I  read  this  stanza  I  can 
feel  the  frozen  earth  under  my  feet,  and  hear  the  "  Caw  ! 
Caw  !  "  of  the  crows  as  they  slowly  rise  from  the  ground. 

[Note  the  movement  of  the  boughs,  the  condition  of  the 
once  lively,  voluble  river,  the  solitariness  of  the  bird,  the  kind 
of  look  that  the  shrunk,  cold  morning  gives  to  earth  and  sea. 
In  Part  I  of  the  same  poem, 

"  The  crows  flapped  over  by  twos  and  threes," 
and 

"...  the  very  leaves  seemed  to  sing  on  the  trees." 

Is  the  statement  in  the  second  sentence  of  the  student 
paragraph  true?  To  what  does  its  in  the  fourth  line  of  the 
quoted  stanza  refer,  to  Winter  or  to  river?] 

VI.  Select  a  few  lines   from  a   poem  —  from   an    English 
classic  that  you  have  studied.     Prefer  a  part  that  is  a  unit, 
complete  in  itself.     Study  the  lines,  then  write  a  paragraph 
about  the  meaning  that  you  find  in  them  and  about  what  you 
especially  enjoy  in  the  thought  or  manner  of  expression  (style). 
Lines  80-93,  109-127,  211-224,  258-272,  334-347,  in  "The 
Vision  of  Sir  Launfal "  are  units  in  themselves. 

VII.  Select  one  of  the  four  following  poems  or  one  of  those 
indicated  in  the  appended  list.     Memorize  the  lines  and  think 
about  them. 

i.   OPPORTUNITY 

...     A  path  I  sought 

Through  wall  of  rock.     No  human  fingers  wrought 
The  golden  gates  which  opened,  sudden,  still, 


THE    STUDY   OF   POEMS  187 

And  wide.     My  fear  was  hushed  by  my  delight. 
Surpassing  fair  the  lands  ;  my  path  lay  plain ; 
Alas !  so  spellbound,  feasting  on  the  sight, 
I  paused,  that  I  but  reached  the  threshold  bright, 
When,  swinging  swift,  the  golden  gates  again 
Were  rocky  walls,  by  which  I  wept  in  vain  ! 

HELEN  HUNT  JACKSON. 

2.   THE  ARROW  AND  THE  SONG 

I  shot  an  arrow  into  the  air, 
It  fell  to  earth,  I  knew  not  where ; 
For,  so  swiftly  it  flew,  the  sight 
Could  not  follow  it  in  its  flight. 

I  breathed  a  song  into  the  air, 
It  fell  to  earth,  I  knew  not  where; 
For  who  has  sight  so  keen  and  strong 
That  it  can  follow  the  flight  of  song  ? 

Long,  long  afterward  in  an  oak 
I  found  the  arrow,  still  unbroke ; 
And  the  song,  from  beginning  to  end, 
I  found  again  in  the  heart  of  a  friend. 

HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW. 


3.   ABOU  BEN  ADHEM 

Abou  Ben  Adhem  (may  his  tribe  increase !) 
Awoke  one  night  from  a  deep  dream  of  peace, 
And  saw,  within  the  moonlight  in  his  room, 
Making  it  rich  and  like  a  lily  in  bloom, 
An  Angel  writing  in  a  book  of  gold  :  — 
Exceeding  peace  had  made  Ben  Adhem  bold, 
And  to  the  Presence  in  the  room  he  said, 
"  What  writest  thou  ?  —  the  Vision  raised  its  head, 
And  with  a  look  made  of  all  sweet  accord, 


1 88  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

Answered,  "The  names  of  those  who  love  the  Lord." 
"  And  is  mine  one  ?  "  asked  Abou.     "  Nay,  not  so," 
Replied  the  Angel.     Abou  spoke  more  low, 
But  cheerly  still ;  and  said,  "  I  pray  thee,  then, 
Write  me  as  one  that  loves  his  fellow-men." 
The  Angel  wrote  and  vanished.     The  next  night 
It  came  again  with  a  great  awakening  light, 
And  showed  the  names  whom  love  of  God  had  bless'd, 

And  lo  !  Ben  Adhem's  name  led  all  the  rest. 

LEIGH  HUM. 

4.   THE  REFORMER 

Before  the  monstrous  wrong  he  sits  him  down  — 

One  man  against  a  stone-walled  city  of  sin. 

For  centuries  those  walls  have  been  abuilding ; 

Smooth  porphyry,  they  slope,  and  coldly  glass 

The  flying  storm  and  wheeling  sun.     No  chink 

Or  crevice  lets  the  thinnest  arrow  in. 

He  fights  alone,  and  from  the  cloudy  ramparts 

A  thousand  evil  faces  gibe  and  jeer  him. 

Let  him  lie  down  and  die ;  what  is  the  right 

And  where  the  justice  in  a  world  like  this  ! 

But,  by  and  by,  earth  shakes  herself,  impatient ; 

And  down,  in  one  great  roar  of  ruin,  crash 

Watch-tower  and  citadel  and  battlements. 

When  the  red  dust  has  cleared,  the  lonely  soldier 

Stands  with  strange  thoughts  beneath  the  friendly  stars. 

EDWARD  ROWLAND  SILL. 

List  of  poems,  from  which  one  may  be  chosen  for  memoriz- 
ing:— 

James  Russell  Lowell's 

The  Shepherd  of  King  Admetus. 
A  Contrast. 

Mahmoud,  the  Image  Breaker. 
Helen  Hunt  Jackson's  (H.  H.) 
The  Spinner. 
The  Message. 


THE    STUDY    OF   POEMS  189 

Carlyle's 
To-day. 

Kipling's 

L'Envoi. 
Recessional. 

Edward  Rowland  Sill's 
Dare  You  ? 
A  Fool's  Prayer. 

Sidney  Lanier's 

Souls  and  Raindrops. 

A  Ballad  of  Trees  and  the  Master. 

Longfellow's 

Daylight  and  Moonlight. 

Browning's 

An  Incident  of  the  French  Camp. 

Bryant's 

To  a  Waterfowl. 

VIII.  Write  about  the  poem  that  was  memorized  in  response 
to  VII.  Let  your  work  contain  answers  to  these  questions  :  — 

1 .  a.    What  is  the  truth  imparted  ?    b.  How  many  times  and 
in  what  ways  is  it  told  ? 

2.  a.    How  does  the  author  take  care  that  the  truth  which  his 
poem  conveys  shall  not  be  missed  ?     b.    What  skilful  means 
does  he  employ  to  secure  and  hold  his  reader's  interest  and 
sympathy  ? 

3.  a.   What  single  words  or  other  expressions  please   you 
especially  ?     b.  Why  do  you  enjoy  them  ? 

4.  Does  the  author  give  glimpses  of  his  own  personality  ? 
He  may  show  himself  to  be  a  lover  of  color,  of  music,  of  action. 

[From  his  poems  alone  one  would  know  that  Milton  was  a 
musician,  a  supporter  of  liberty,  a  student  of  the  classics.] 

If  you  answer  question  4  affirmatively,  quote  from  the  poem 
to  show  the  truth  of  your  statement. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

POETRY:    KINDS    OF    POETRY;    VERSIFICATION 

IN  the  preceding  chapter,  an  opportunity  was  given 
to  consider  a  few  poems,  chiefly  with  reference  to  the 
thought  conveyed  by  them.  The  poems  were  not  classi- 
fied, however,  or  studied  with  regard  to  their  form.  In 
order  to  classify  a  poem  and  designate  its  form,  one 
must  understand  the  different  kinds  of  poetry  and 
versification. 

Poetry 
a.     What  Poetry  Is 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  just  what  poetry  is,  but  two  defini- 
tions are  given  below.  I  is  from  a  dictionary,1  II  is 
from  a  poet.2 

I.  Poetry  is  that  one  of  the  fine  arts  which  addresses 
itself  to  the  feelings  and  the  imagination,  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  musical  and  moving  words. 

II.  Poetry  is   the  record  of  the  best  and  happiest 
moments  of  the  happiest  and  best  minds. 

To  understand  what  poetry  is,  one  must  read,  and 
learn  to  know  intimately,  the  works  of  great  poets. 

1  The  Century  Dictionary.         2  Shelley :  "  A  Defense  of  Poetry." 
190 


POETRY  191 

b.     What  Poetry  Does  for  tlie  Reader 

"The  reading  of  poetry  is,  in  my  judgment,"  says 
Henry  Van  Dyke,  "one  of  the  very  finest  instruments 
for  the  opening  of  the  mind,  the  enlarging  of  the  im- 
agination, and  the  development  of  the  character.  .  .  . 
It  reveals  many  of  the  secret  spiritual  forces  which  have  The  relation 

of  poetry  to 

made  our  history.     We  cannot  understand  the  age  of  history 
Elizabeth,  of  the  Puritans,  of  Queen  Anne,  of  Victoria, 
without  knowing  Shakespeare,  and  Milton,  and  Pope, 
and  Tennyson,  and  Browning."1 

Kinds  of  Poetry 

Poems    are  —  chiefly  —  Lyric,    Narrative,    and    Dra-  poemscias- 
matic ;    there    are    also    many    Didactic    and    Satirical 
poems. 

The  Lyric  gives  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  The  lyric 
poet  himself.  The  earliest  poetry  of  this  sort  was 
sung  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  lyre,  a  musical  in- 
strument resembling  the  harp.  Songs  are  pure  lyrics. 
As  the  quality  of  thoughtfulness  increases,  the  poem 
becomes  less  songlike.  It  has  been  well  said  that  the 
burden  of  the  lyric  is  "  I  feel,"  not  "  I  think."2 

A  lyrical  poem  that  progresses  in  an  orderly,  not  in  ode  defined 
a  tumultuous,  way  and  that   has  a  definite,   dignified 
theme  is  called  an  Ode.     Examples  of  very  thoughtful 

1  "  Some  Remarks  on  the  Study  of  English  Verse,"  The  Atlantic 
Monthly,  October,  1903. 

'2  Charles  F.  Johnson :  "  Forms  of  English  Poetry."  (The  American 
Book  Company.) 


IQ2  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

odes  are  Wordsworth's  "  On  Intimations  of  Immortal- 
ity "  and  Lowell's  "  Commemoration  Ode."  Shelley's 
"  Ode  to  the  West  Wind  "  is  more  lyrical,  more  impas- 
sioned and  songlike. 

EXERCISE 

I.    Read  aloud  the  following  lyrics. 

1.  What  one  of  the  poems  least  reveals  the  writer's  emotions? 

2.  What  poem  holds  the  most  feeling? 

I.   BOOT  AND  SADDLE 

Boot,  saddle,  to  horse,  and  away  ! 
Rescue  my  castle  before  the  hot  day- 
Brightens  to  blue  from  its  silvery  gray, 

CHORUS.  — Boot,  saddle,  to  /torse,  and  away ! 

Ride  past  the  suburbs,  asleep  as  you'd  say ; 
Many's  the  friend  there,  will  listen  and  pray 
"  God's  luck  to  gallants  that  strike  up  the  lay  — 

CHORUS.  —  Boot,  saddle,  to  horse,  and  away ! " 

Forty  miles  off,  like  a  roebuck  at  bay, 

Flouts  castle  Brancepeth  the  Roundheads1  array : 

Who  laughs,  "  Good  fellows  ere  this,  by  my  fay, 

CHORUS.  —  Boot,  saddle,  to  horse,  and  away ! " 

Who  ?     My  wife  Gertrude ;  that,  honest  and  gay. 
Laughs  when  you  talk  of  surrendering,  "Nay! 
I've  better  counsellors  ;  what  counsel  they  ? 

CHORUS.  —  Boot,  saddle,  to  /torse,  and  away ! " 

ROBERT  BROWNING  :  "  Cavalier  Tunes." 
/ 

II.   A   SEA   DIRGE 

Full  fathom  five  thy  father  lies ; 

Of  his  bones  are  coral  made ; 
Those  are  pearls  that  were  his  eyes : 

Nothing  of  him  that  doth  fade, 


POETRY  193 

But  doth  suffer  a  sea-change 
Into  something  rich  and  strange. 
Sea-nymphs  hourly  ring  his  knell : 

Ding-dong. 
Hark  !  now  I  hear  them  —  Ding-dong  bell. 

SHAKESPEARE:  "  The  Tempest." 

III.   THE  SOLITARY  REAPER 

Behold  her,  single  in  the  field, 
Yon  solitary  Highland  Lass! 
Reaping  and  singing  by  herself; 
Stop  here,  or  gently  pass ! 
Alone  she  cuts  and  binds  the  grain, 
And  sings  a  melancholy  strain  ; 
Oh,  listen !  for  the  Vale  profound 
Is  overflowing  with  the  sound. 

No  nightingale  did  ever  chaunt 
More  welcome  notes  to  weary  bands 
Of  travellers  in  some  shady  haunt, 
Among  Arabian  sands : 
A  voice  so  thrilling  ne'er  was  heard 
In  spring-time  from  the  cuckoo-bird, 
Breaking  the  silence  of  the  seas 
Among  the  farthest  Hebrides. 

Will  no  one  tell  me  what  she  sings? 
Perhaps  the  plaintive  numbers  flow 
For  old,  unhappy,  far-off  things, 
And  battles  long  ago  : 
Or  is  it  some  more  humble  lay, 
Familiar  matter  of  to-day  ? 
Some  natural  sorrow,  loss,  or  pain, 
That  has  been,  and  may  be  again  ? 

Whate'er  the  theme,  the  Maiden  sang 
As  if  her  song  could  have  no  ending ; 


194 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

I  saw  her  singing  at  her  work, 
And  o'er  the  sickle  bending ;  — 
I  listened,  motionless  and  still ; 
And,  as  I  mounted  up  the  hill, 
The  music  in  my  heart  I  bore, 
Long  after  it  was  heard  no  more. 

WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH. 


IV.   A  SONG  OF  THE  FUTURE 

Sail  fast,  sail  fast, 

Ark  of  my  hopes,  Ark  of  my  dreams ; 
Sweep  lordly  o'er  the  drowned  Past, 
Fly  glittering  through  the  sun's  strange  beams ; 

Sail  fast,  sail  fast. 

Breaths  of  new  buds  from  off  some  drying  lea 
With  news  about  the  Future  scent  the  sea : 
My  brain  is  beating  like  the  heart  of  Haste : 
Til  loose  me  a  bird  upon  this  Present  waste ; 

Go,  trembling  song, 
And  stay  not  long ;  oh,  stay  not  long : 
Thou'rt  only  a  gray  and  sober  dove, 
But  thine  eye  is  faith  and  thy  wing  is  love. 

SIDNEY  LAMER. 

The  Narrative  Poem  tells  a  story  in  verse.  Romances, 
epics,  and  ballads,  as  well  as  tales  and  pastoral  poems, 
are  narrative. 

The  Romance  tells  a  fictitious  story  of  marvellous 
or  supernatural  incidents  derived  from  history  or  legend. 
It  deals  largely  with  what  is  fanciful  and  might  be  im- 
possible in  actual  life. 

The  Epic  recites  at  length  a  series  of  great  events  or 
the  heroic  deeds  of  men.  The  events  may  be  super- 


POETRY  195 

naturally  guided,  but  the  story  is  much  in  accordance 
with  the  occurrences  of  real  life. 

A  Ballad  is  likely  to  be  short  and  dramatic,  with  some  The  baiiad 
dialogue  ;  it  usually  expresses  strong  feeling,  often  in  an 
abrupt  manner.      Many  ballads  are  lyrical. 

EXAMPLES  OF  THE  ROMANCE,  EPIC,  TALE,  AND  PASTORAL.  — 
Almost  every  high-school  student  has  read  something  from  Tenny- 
son's "  Idylls  of  the  King"  and  a  translation  of  Homer's  "Iliad"  ; 
the  former  is  a  kind  of  romance  and  the  latter,  an  epic.  Long- 
fellow's "Tales  of  a  Wayside  Inn"  also  is  familiar.  Wordsworth's 
"  Michael  "  is  one  of  the  finest  pastorals. 

EXERCISE 

I.  Read  one  or  more  of  the  following  ballads  :  — 

1.  Henry  Wadsworth  Longfellow's  "The  Skeleton  in  Armor." 

2.  John  Greenleaf  Whittier's  '•  Skipper  Ireson's  Ride." 

3.  Thomas  Babington  Macaulay's  "  Battle  of  Ivry." 

4.  Sir  Walter  Scott's   "Alice  Brand,"  from  Canto  iv  of  "The 
Lady  of  the  Lake."1 

5.  Samuel    Taylor    Coleridge's    "The    Rime    of   the    Ancient 
Mariner." 

II.  Answer    the   following    questions    regarding   the    ballad 
read  in  response  to  I. 

I .    Is  it  very  lyrical  in  character  ?    Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

2     Has  it  dialogue  ? 

3.    Is  it  dramatic  ?     Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

Both  the  Elegy  and  the  Threnody  are  poems  of 
lamentation  in  memory  of  the  dead.  They  are  usually 
lyrical  in  character.  The  threnody  is  concerned  with 
an  individual ;  the  elegy,  with  a  group  or  with  mankind 
in  general. 


196  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.   Gray's  "  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard." 
II.   (Threnodies.)      Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam,"  and  Milton's 
"  Lycidas." 

["  Lycidas"  has  much  of  the  lyrical  element.] 

Thedra-  In  a  Dramatic  Poem,  human  beings  enact  a  story; 

defined  their  conversations  and  deeds  give  that  story  movement, 
climax,  and  a  consummation.  Such  poems  are  often 
intended,  or  are  fitted,  for  presentation  on  the  stage. 
A  Drama  is  a  dramatic  poem  and  may  be  classed  as  a 

The  Tragedy,  a  Comedy,  or  a  Farce.     A  tragedy  represents 

defined7  its  chief  personage  as  struggling  against  superior  power 
only  to  succumb.  The  conflict  is  a  worthy  one,  how- 
ever ;  the  spectator  (the  reader)  follows  it  with  sympa- 
thetic interest,  is  able  to  imagine  himself  in  the  same 
place  and  under  the  same  conditions,  acting  similarly, 
suffering  as  inevitably.  The  effect  of  the  tragedy  should 
be  ennobling. 

The  comedy       In  comedy,  the  story  enacted  is  lighter,  the  climax 

defined 

is  not  a  catastrophe.      One  sees  faults  and  follies  — 

perhaps  one's  own  —  ridiculed,  and  may  profit  by  the 

comedyana  friendly    warning.      Comedy,  with  a  smile,   holds   the 

tragedy 

contrasted  mirror  up  to  shortcomings  or  to  vices ;  tragedy  sternly 
shows  the  stroke  of  a  Nemesis,  which  might  have  fallen 
upon  the  spectator  (the  reader)  had  he  been  the  chief 
personage  in  the  acted  story. 

The  farce          The  farce  is  lighter  than  the  comedy  and  is  intended 

defined  . 

merely  to  amuse.  It  is  generally  very  short,  represents 
situations  not  likely  to  occur  in  actual  life,  and  intro- 
duces characters  with  exaggerated  traits. 


POETRY  197 

EXAMPLES.  —  I.  (Tragedy.)     Shakespeare's  "  King  Lear." 

II.  (Comedy.)     Oliver  Goldsmith's  "  She  Stoops  to  Conquer." 

III.  (Farce.)     William  Dean  Howells's  "The  Mouse-Trap." 

Didactic    Poetry  aims    to   give   direct   instruction  in  Didactic 

.      .      .    ,  poetry 

lyrical  form. 

EXAMPLE.  —  One  of  the  worthiest  poems  of  this  class  is  Bryant's 
"  Thanatopsis." 

The  Satire  exposes  and  ridicules  folly  and  vice,  and 
thus  indirectly  shows  the  value  of  wisdom  and  virtue. 
EXAMPLE.  —  Lowell's  "  The  Biglow  Papers." 

EXERCISE 
Define  the  following  words  :  — 

epic  threnody  dramatic 

romance  lyric  tragedy 

idyll  narrative  comedy 

ballad  didactic  farce 

elegy  satire 

Define  tale  and  pastoral,  also,  as  applied  to  poetry. 

Versification 

Poetry  gives  the  reader  enjoyment  because  of  its  The  form  of 
rhyme,  because  of  the  pleasing  arrangement  of  its  ac- 
cented  and  unaccented  syllables  with  reference  to  one 
another,  because  of  the  rhythm  or  "  beat "  of  its  lines. 
The  mere  form  and  movement  of  a  poem,  then,  deserve 
consideration,  as  well  as  the  thought  and  the  emotion 
they  convey. 

A  line  of  poetry  —  a  verse  —  is  made  up  of  feet ;  its  HOW  a  line 

of  verse  is 

feet  are  composed  of  syllables.     The  line  measured 

And  show  |  us  things  |  that  seers  |  and  sa  |  ges  saw  | 


198 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


What  gives  has  five  feet  of  two  syllables  each,  the  first  syllable 
poetry  its  unaccented,  the  second  accented.  According  to  the 
number  of  feet,  lines  are  monometer  (of  one  measure), 
dimeter  (of  two  measures),  trimeter  (of  three  measures), 
tetrameter,  pentameter,  hexameter,  etc.1  According  to 
the  number,  kind,  and  arrangement  of  its  syllables,  a 
foot  is  an  iambus  (untold),  a  trochee  (sadly),  an  ana- 
pest  (unawares),  a  dactyl  (rapidly),  a  spondee  (murmur), 
an  amphibrach  (remdrseful),  or  an  amphimacer  (after- 
math). The  amphimacer  is  seldom  used. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
Like  a  |  glow-worm  |  golden  | 


Trochaic  trimeter. 


2.  Not  a  word  |  to  each  oth|er  we  kept  |  the  great  pace  | 
Neck  by  neck  |  stride  by  stride  |  never  changing  our  place  ;  | 

Anapestic  tetrameter. 

3.  S6  all  |  day  long  |  the  noise  |  of  batjtle  rolPd  | 

Iambic  pentameter. 

Lines  made  up  of  feet  of  the  same  kind  are  called 
pure ;  lines  that  have  two  or  more  kinds  of  feet  are 

called  mixed. 

EXERCISE 

In  "The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal  "  (Part  I,  Prelude)  or  in 
another  English  classic,  find  a  line  of  mixed  verse  and  a  line 
of  pure  verse.  / 

Lines  are  generally  made  up  of  four,  five,  or  six  feet. 
Long  lines  of  seven  or  eight  feet  are  not  much  used, 

1  These  words  are  derived  from  the  names  of  the  Greek  numerals  and 
another  Greek  word  (nietroii)  meaning  measure. 


POETRY  199 

and  most  lines  of  one  foot  or  of  two  feet  occur  in  the 
lighter  poetry  or  as  refrains. 

In  a  line  of  five  or  six  feet,  the  meaning  usually  re-  The  caesura 

,.    defined 

quires  at  some  point  a  moment  s  pause  on  the  part  of 
the  reader.  This  pause  is  called  the  caesura,  and  is 
marked  thus  ||.  Sometimes  two  caesuras  occur  in  a  line. 
In  reading  the  following  from  Browning's  "  Saul,"  one 
marks  two  caesuras  in  each  of  the  first  two  lines  :  — 

And  I  paused,  ||  held  my  breath  in  such  silence,  ||  and  listened  apart ; 
And  the  tent  shook,  ||  for  mighty  Saul  shuddered ;  ||  and  sparkles 

'gan  dart 

From  the  jewels  that  woke  in  his  turban  ||  at  once  with  a  start 
All  its  lordly  male-sapphires,  ||and  rubies  courageous  at  heart. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Add  at  least  six  other  examples  to  each  of  the  following 
groups  except  that  under  7.  Add  one  example  to  the  last  group. 

1.  Iambuses:  forsake,  compete,  endure,  foresee,  review,  receive. 

2.  Trochees:  twenty,  furnace,  gladness,  music,  quickly,  sober. 

3.  Anapests :  tambourine,   underlie,   volunteer,    unbelief,   Inter- 
vene. 

4.  Dactyls:  lazily,   waterfall,   neighborhood,  Intimate,   number- 
less, quarrelsome. 

5.  Spondees:    hero,    bookshelves,   bluebell,   murmur,  downfall, 
bon-bon,  sunshine. 

6.  Amphibrachs :  revengeful,  omission,  straightforward,  success- 
ful, unbounded,  undoubted. 

7.  Amphimacers :  amphibrach,  Launcelot,  pSrcupme. 

[The  work  required  in  the  following  exercises  represents,  not 
an  attempt  to  write  poetry,  but  an  effort  to  gain  some  knowl- 
edge of  the  forms  of  verse. 

It  is  usually  desirable  to  have  accents  fall  on  syllables  that 
would  naturally  be  accented.] 


200  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

II.  Write  one  line  or  more  representing  iambic  pentameter 
verse  ;  your  subject  may  be,  The  movement  of  leaves. 

III.  Write  one  line  or  more  representing  trochaic  tetram- 
eter verse  ;  your  subject  may  be,  The  rush  of  a  stream. 

IV.  Write  one  line  or  more  representing  anapestic  tetram- 
eter verse ;  your  subject  may  be,  The  dancers,  The  flight  of 
a  butterfly,  A  whirl  of  snowflakes,  or  Vines  blown  by  the  wind. 

V.  Write  one  line  or  more  representing  dactylic   trimeter 
verse;  your  subject  may  be,  A  race  of  horses,  leaves,  or  boats. 

Scansion 

To  scan  poetry  is  to  read  it  so  that  its  metre  and 
rhythm  become  evident ;  to  give  a  good  deal  of  stress 
to  the  accented  syllables,  to  glide  over  the  unaccented, 
and  clearly  to  indicate  the  caesura,  if  it  be  needed. 

EXERCISE 

Mark,  classify,  and  scan  the  following  lines ;  indicate  where, 
if  at  all,  the  cassural  pause  is  required. 

I .    I  speak  for  each  no-tongued  tree 

That,  spring  by  spring,  doth  nobler  be, 
And  dumbly  and  most  wistfully 
His  mighty  prayerful  arms  outspreads 
Above  men's  oft-unheeding  heads, 
And  his  big  blessing  downward  sheds. 

SIDNEY  LANIKR  :  "  The  Symphony." 

2.    Men  whose  lives  glided  on  like  rivers  that  water  the  woodlands, 
Darkened  by  shadows  of  earth,  but  reflecting  an  image  of  heaven. 
HENRY  WADSWORTH  LONGFELLOW:  "  Evangeline." 

3.    Merrily,  merrily  shall  I  live  now, 

Under  the  blossom  that  hangs  on  the  bough. 

WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE:  "The  Tempest." 


POETRY 


2O I 


4.    Warm  noon  brims  full  the  valley's  cup, 

The  aspen's  leaves  are  scarce  astir, 
Only  the  little  mill  sends  up 
Its  busy,  never-ceasing  burr. 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL:  "  Beaver  Brook." 

5.  Yet  now  my  heart  leaps,  O  beloved!  God's  child  with  his  dew 
On  thy  gracious  gold  hair,  and  those  lilies  still  living  and  blue 
Just  broken  to  twine  round  thy  harp-strings,  as  if  no  wild  heat 
Were  now  raging  to  torture  the  desert  ! 

ROBERT  BROWNING:  "Saul." 

6.    Willows  whiten,  aspens  quiver, 
Little  breezes  dusk  and  shiver 
Thro'  the  wave  that  runs  forever 
By  the  island  in  the  river 

Flowing  down  to  Camelot. 

ALFRED  TENNYSON:  "The  Lady  of  Shalott." 

7.    A  Sensitive  Plant  in  a  garden  grew, 

And  the  young  winds  fed  it  with  silver  dew, 
And  it  opened  its  fanlike  leaves  to  the  light, 
And  closed  them  beneath  the  kisses  of  night. 

SHELLEY  :  "  The  Sensitive  Plant." 

The  metre  of  the  lines  under  the  preceding  exercise  Poems  that 
is  pretty  regular  and  the  lines  are  easily  classified.     A  rhythm  but 
good  deal  of  lyric  poetry,  however,  it  is  difficult  or  im-  ^meTr?1 
possible  to  scan.     One  must  detect  the  number  of  beats 
in  the  line  and  read  in  accordance  with  the  musical 
rhythm. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.    That's  my  last  Duchess  painted  on  the  wall, 
Looking  as  if  she  were  alive.     I  call 
That  piece  a  wonder,  now :  Fra  Pandolf 's  hands 
Worked  busily  a  day,  and  there  she  stands. 

ROBERT  BROWNING:  "  My  Last  Duchess." 


2O2 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


II.    As  a  twig  trembles,  which  a  bird 

Lights  on  to  sing,  then  leaves  unbent, 
So  is  my  memory  thrilled  and  stirred ; 
I  only  know  she  came  and  went. 

JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL:  "  She  Came  and  Went." 

[Both  I  and  II  may  be  read  with  two  beats  to  the  line.  In  I, 
there  is  a  pause  after  Duchess,  alive,  now,  and  day,  as  well  as  at  the 
end  of  each  line.  In  II,  the  pauses  come  after  each  line  and  after 
trembles,  sing,  memory,  and  know.~\ 

EXERCISE 

From  "The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal"  (Part  I,  Prelude),  or 
from  another  English  classic,  select,  scan,  and  classify  at  least 
two  varieties  of  verse. 

Rhyme 

The  endings  of  lines  in  modern  poetry  may  be  marked 
by  similar  sounds,  called  rhymes ;  these  may  be  single, 
double,  or  trisyllabic.  The  single  rhyme  requires  the 
last  accented  vowel  in  the  rhyming  words  to  be  the 
same,  also  the  succeeding  consonant  or  consonants,  if 
there  be  any.  The  double  rhyme  is  like  the  single, 
except  that  an  unaccented  syllable  —  the  same  in  each 
of  the  rhyming  words  —  follows  that  which  is  accented. 

EXERCISE 

Find  both  single  and  double  rhymes  in  an  English  classic. 
Such  rhymes  occur  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  stanzas  of  "The 
Vision  of  Sir  Launfal." 

The  trisyllabic  rhyme  has  one  accented  syllable  and 
two  unaccented  syllables. 

EXAMPLE.  —  "  Lover  of  loneliness  and  wandering, 

Of  upcast  eye,  and  tender  pondering." 


POETRY  203 

Sometimes  one  of  the  rhyming  words  is  within  the  The  rhym- 
ing of  two 
line,  as  in  lines  I,  3,  5,  and  7  m  the  following  quota-  parts  of  a 

tion.     Such  rhymes  are  called  internal  or  leonine  :  — 

I  bind  the  sun's  throne  with  a  burning  zone, 

And  the  moon's  with  a  girdle  of  pearl : 
The  volcanoes  are  dim,  and  the  stars  reel  and  swim, 

When  the  whirlwinds  my  banner  unfurl. 
From  cape  to  cape,  with  a  bridge-like  shape, 

Over  a  torrent  sea, 
Sunbeam  proof,  I  hang  like  a  roof, 

The  mountains  its  columns  be. 

PERCY  BYSSHE  SHELLEY:  "The  Cloud." 


Alliteration 

Alliteration  rather  than  rhyme  marked  the  line  in  early 
English  poetry ;  that  is,  at  least  two  accented  syllables 
—  one  in  each  of  the  two  sections  of  the  line  —  began 
with  the  same  vowel  or  consonant  sound.  There  are 
traces  of  this  alliteration  in  modern  English  verse  when 
an  initial  consonant  is  repeated  at  short  intervals.  Alliteration 
Alliteration  in  modern  verse  is  denned  thus  :  the  repe- 
tition of  the  same  letter  or  sound  at  the  beginning  of 
two  or  more  words  in  close  or  immediate  succession. 

EXAMPLE.  —  With  £/asts  that  £/ow  the  poplar  white. 

There  may  be  alliteration  by  means  of  internal  con- 
sonants, as  there  are  internal  rhymes.1 

EXAMPLE.  —  The  moan  of  doves  in  immemorial  e///zs 
And  murmuring  of  innumerable  <5>ees. 

1  See  Corson's  "  Primer  of  English  Verse."     (Ginn  and  Company.) 


2O4 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


EXERCISE 

Find  alliteration  in  an  English  classic.  It  occurs  in  lines  4, 
7,  84,  114,  128,  138,  and  elsewhere  in  "The  Vision  of  Sir 
Launfal." 

The  Stanza 

The  stama  A  stanza  is  a  minor  division  of  a  poem  ;  it  consists  of 
lines  having  a  definite  arrangement.  Scott's  "  Mar- 
mion,"  for  example,  a  story  in  verse,  is  divided  into 
cantos,  and  each  canto  is  made  up  of  stanzas,  as  a 

The  length  prose  story  has  chapters  and  paragraphs.  Stanzas  are 
usually  from  three  to  nine  lines  in  length  ;  not  often  do 
they  exceed  nine  lines.  Note  the  variety  of  stanzas  with 
reference  to  length  in  "  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal." 

The  triplet  is  a  stanza  of  three  lines ;  the  quatrain,  of 
four.  Two  consecutive  rhyming  lines  make  a  couplet, 
but  are  not  usually  called  a  stanza. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  a  quatrain  with  alternate  single  rhymes ;  that  is, 
have  the  first  line  rhyme  with  the  third  and  the  second  with 
the  fourth.     Utilize,  if  you  can,  the  work  done  in  answer  to 
the  requirement  of  II,  III,  IV,  or  V,  page  200. 

II.  Scan  the  quatrain  written  in  response  to  requirement  I, 
and  give  it  its  name. 

Blank  Verse 

Iambic  pentameter  English  verse  without  rhyme  is 
called  Blank  Verse.  High-school  pupils  are  familiar 
with  at  least  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays  and  have,  there- 
fore, read  blank  verse. 


POETRY  205 

EXERCISES 

I.  Construct  about  five  lines  of  blank  verse,  in  order  that 
you  may  become  familiar  with  its  form ;  characterize  a  person 
or  describe  a  scene  or  a  deed. 

II.  Define  each  of  the  following  terms  :  — 

rhyme  anapest  hexameter 

rhythm  dactyl  caesura 

verse  spondee  scansion 

foot  (in  poetry)  amphibrach  stanza 

metre  amphimacer  couplet 

versification  monometer  quatrain 

trochee  dimeter  alliteration 

iambus  trimeter 

tetrameter 

pentameter 

The  Sonnet 

The  English  Sonnet  is  a  poem  of  fourteen  iambic  The  sonnet 
pentameter  lines  presenting  a  single  thought,  and  is 
lyrical  in  character.  It  consists  of  two  groups  of  lines  : 
the  major  group  —  the  first  eight  lines — made  up  of 
two  quatrains  and  called  the  octave  or  octette,  and  the 
minor  group — the  last  six  lines  —  called  the  sextette. 
The  most  approved  rhyming  arrangements  for  the  son- 
net are  indicated  in  the  illustrations  given  below.  There 
are,  however,  many  deviations  from  these  arrangements. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 
I.   THE  SONNET 

What  is  a  sonnet  ?     'Tis  the  pearly  shell  (a) 

That  murmurs  of  the  far-off  murmuring  sea  ;  (f>) 

A  precious  jewel  carved  most  curiously  ;  (<£) 


206  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

It  is  a  little  picture  painted  well.  (a) 

What  is  a  sonnet  ?     'Tis  the  tear  that  fell  (a) 

From  a  great  poet's  hidden  ecstasy ;  (£) 

A  two-edged  sword,  a  star,  a  song  —  ah  me !  (b) 

Sometimes  a  heavy-tolling  funeral  bell.  (a) 

This  was  the  flame  that  shook  with  Dante's  breath ;  (r) 

The  solemn  organ  whereon  Milton  played,  (d) 

And  the  clear  glass  where  Shakespeare's  shadow  falls  :   (e) 

A  sea  this  is  —  beware  who  ventureth !  (c) 

For  like  a  fiord  the  narrow  floor  is  laid  (d) 

Mid-ocean  deep  to  the  sheer  mountain  walls.  (e) 

RICHARD  WATSON  GILDER. 

[The  preceding  illustration  follows  the  rhyming  arrangement  of 
the  Italian  sonnet,  which  was  the  model  for  the  first  English  poems 
of  this  class.] 

II.   THE  PROSPECT 

Methinks  we  do  as  fretful  children  do,  (a) 

Leaning  their  faces  on  the  window-pane  (£) 

To  sigh  the  glass  dim  with  their  own  breath's  stain  (b) 

And  shut  the  sky  and  landscape  from  their  view :  (<z) 

And  thus,  alas,  since  God  the  Maker  drew  (a) 

A  mystic  separation  'twixt  those  twain,  (ft) 

The  life  beyond  us  and  our  souls  in  pain,  (b) 

We  miss  the  prospect  which  we  are  called  unto  (a) 

By  grief  we  are  fools  to  use.     Be  still  and  strong,  (c) 

O  man,  my  brother !  hold  thy  sobbing  breath,  (d) 

And  keep  thy  soul's  large  window  pure  from  wrong  (c) 

That  so,  as  life's  appointment  issueth,  (d) 

Thy  vision  may  be  clear  to  watch  along  (c) 

The  sunset  consummation-lights  of  death.  (d) 
ELIZABETH  BARRETT  BROWNING. 
[Note  that  the  sentence 

"  We  miss  the  prospect  which  we  are  called  unto 

By  grief  we  are  fools  to  use  " 

begins  in  the  octette  and  runs  into  the  sextette,  thus  holding  the 
two  parts  of  the  sonnet  firmly  together ;  there  can  be  no  break  be- 


POETHY  207 

tween  the  two.     Formerly  such  a  binding  together  of  parts  was 
considered  essential.] 

III.  MILTON 

Milton !  thou  shouldst  be  living  at  this  hour ;  (a) 

England  hath  need  of  thee :  she  is  a  fen  (£) 

Of  stagnant  waters  :  altar,  sword,  and  pen,  (b) 

Fireside,  the  heroic  wealth  of  hall  and  bower,  (a) 

Have  forfeited  their  ancient  English  dower  (a) 

Of  inward  happiness.     We  are  selfish  men ;  (6) 

Oh,  raise  us  up,  return  to  us  again  ;  (b) 

And  give  us  manners,  virtue,  freedom,  power.  (a) 

Thy  soul  was  like  a  star  and  dwelt  apart ;  (c) 

Thou  hadst  a  voice  whose  sound  was  like  the  sea;      (//) 

Pure  as  the  naked  heavens,  majestic,  free,  (</) 

So  didst  thou  travel  on  life's  common  way  (<0 

In  cheerful  godliness  ;  and  yet  thy  heart  (<:) 

The  lowliest  duties  on  herself  did  lay.  (e) 

WILLIAM  WORDSWORTH. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Commit   to   memory  one   of  the  preceding  illustrative 
sonnets  or  one  of  those  named  in  the  following  list :  — 

1.  Milton's  "On  his  Blindness." 

2.  Ben  Jonson's  "  On  Shakespeare." 

3.  Keats's  "  Written  in  Burns's  Cottage." 

II.  What  one  of  the  three  quoted  sonnets  is  the  most  lyri- 
cal?    Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

III.  Add  others  to  the  following  sonnet  themes  suggested  by 
pupils.     Remember  that  the  sonnet  presents  the  result  of  its 
author's  reflection  or  meditation. 

1 .  Those  who  toil  while  the  world  sleeps. 

2.  My  everyday  inspirer. 

3.  Frost  forming  on  a  window-pane. 

4.  The  face  that  became  beautiful. 


208  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

5.  The  stokers  on  the  Oregon   during  her    passage  round  the 
Cape  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish-American  War. 

6.  What  we  cannot  forget.     (The  best  and  highest  things  that 
we  respond  to.) 

7.  To  a  boy  (Raphael)  singing  from  door  to  door. 

In  considering  types  of  sentences  (page  43),  it  was 
found  that  the  thought  to  be  expressed  had  much  to  do 
with  determining  the  form  a  sentence  should  have. 
The  form  of  a  poem,  also,  is  influenced  by  the  thought  it 
is  to  convey ;  for  thought,  "  passionate  and  alive,  like 
the  spirit  of  a  plant  or  animal,"  becomes  its  own  archi- 
tect and  fashions  its  own  shape. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

ARRANGEMENTS    OF    WORDS     SOMETIMES     CLASSED 
AS   FIGURES  OF   SPEECH 

Antithesis 

ANTITHESIS  heightens  the  effect  of  contrasted  ideas,   Antithesis 
by   setting   close   together    the    corresponding    words, 
phrases,  clauses,  sentences,  or  paragraphs  that  express 

those  ideas. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Look  like  the  innocent  flower 

But  be  the  serpent  under't. 

II.    His  subjects  began  to  love  his  memory  as  heartily  as  they  had 
hated  his  person. 

EXERCISES 

I.  What  ideas  are  contrasted  in  I  of  the  preceding  illustrations  ? 
what  in  II  ?     What  antonyms  (page  85)  occur  in  II  ? 

[Note  that  the  arrangement  of  words  in  each  sentence  adds  to 
the  effect  of  the  contrast.] 

II.  What  type  of  sentence  —  loose,  balanced,  or  periodic  (page 
44)  —  is  likely  to  be  most  used  in  antithesis?     Give  a  reason  for 
your  answer. 

Climax  and  Anticlimax 

The  term  climax  was  explained  and  illustrated  under  Anticlimax 
"Emphasis,"  page  124.     The  anticlimax  consists  of  a 
series    of  expressions,   each  weaker   or  less  important 

209 


2IO 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


than  the  preceding.    The  descent  made  in  the  anticlimax 
is  often  ludicrous  in  its  effect. 

EXAMPLE.  —  (Anticlimax.)  What  calamities  had  resulted  from 
his  attempt!  —  bereavement,  a  quarrel  with  his  friend,  —  and  an 
attack  of  the  gout  !  In  his  opinion,  the  affliction  last  mentioned  was 
the  most  to  be  deplored. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  a  sentence  containing  a  series  of  adjectives  ar- 
ranged as  a  climax.     Choose  one  of  the  following  subjects  of 
thought : — 

1.  The  creek  as  the  melting  snow  began  to  feed  it. 

2.  How  the  crowd  gathered. 

3.  The  entrance  hall  of  school  from  the  time  of  its  opening  until 
school  begins. 

II.  By  means  of  an  anticlimax,  express   a  shallow  man's 
feeling  for  his  child,  his  personal  safety,  and  his  bank  account. 

Irony 

irony  Irony  ridicules   while    appearing   to    praise.      It  ex- 

presses, as  far  as  words  are  concerned,  the  opposite  of 

what  is  meant. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  You  have  done  well  and  like  a  gentleman 
And  like  a  Prince :  you  have  our  thanks  for  all : 
And  you  look  well,  too,  in  your  woman's  dress  : 
Well  have  you  done  and  like  a  gentleman. 

II.  In  the  interview  between  Godfrey  Cass  and  his   brother  — 
"Silas  Marner,"  Chapter  iii  —  are  many  ironical  expressions. 

The  voice          When   properly  read  aloud,  irony  is  interpreted  by 

an  inter- 
preter of       the  voice.     When  ironical  expressions  are  written,  they 

ironical  ..    ,  , 

expressions  are  liable  to  be  misunderstood. 


ARRANGEMENTS   OF   WORDS  211 

Interrogation 

Are  answers  expected  to  the  following  questions  asked  Rhetorical 
by  Burke  in  his  "  Conciliation  with  the  Colonies  "  ? 

I.  Is  it  true  that  no  case  can  exist  in  which  it  is  proper  for  the 
sovereign  to  accede  to  the  desire  of  his  discontented  subjects  ?     Is 
there  anything  peculiar  in  this  case  to  make  a  rule  for  itself  ?     Is  all 
authority  of  course  lost  when  it  is  not  pushed  to  the  extreme  ?     Is  it 
a  certain  maxim  that  the  fewer  causes  of  dissatisfaction  .are  left  by 
Government,  the  more  the  subject  .will   be  inclined   to  resist  and 
rebel  ? 

II.  Will  not  this,  Sir,  very  soon  teach  the  provinces  to  make  no 
distinctions  on  their  part  ?     Will  it  not  teach  them  that  the  Govern- 
ment against  which  a  claim  of  liberty  is  tantamount  to  high  treason, 
is  a  Government  to  which  submission  is  equivalent  to  slavery  ? 

Such  interrogations  as  those  quoted  above  are  (as  in  whenmter- 

.         .       rogations 

I,  interrogation  without  not,)  actual  denials,  and  (as  m  deny; when 

,  ..  T,,  they  assert 

II,  interrogation  with  not,}  actual  assertions.     They  are 
put  in  the  form  of  questions  that  they  may  be  especially 
forceful. 

Exclamation 
Exclamation  conveys  thought  more  vividly  than  ordi-  useofex- 

.    ,  .  .    clamation 

nary  literal  expression  could  give  it.  Carlyle  writes  ot 
Burns  :  "And  so  kind  and  warm  a  soul;  so  full  of  in- 
born riches,  of  love  to  all  living  and  lifeless  things! 
...  A  true  Poet-Soul,  for  it  needs  but  to  be  struck, 
and  the  sound  it  yields  will  be  music !  "  Declarative 
sentences  would  express  Carlyle's  thought  less  vigor- 
ously. 

Exclamation  is  properly  used  only  when  the  feeling  caution 
to  be  conveyed  is  strong  enough  to  warrant  it. 


212  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

EXERCISES 

I.   Classify  each  of  the  following  selections  as  an  example 
of  antithesis,  climax,  irony,  interrogation,  or  exclamation  :  — 

1.  "They  valued  a  prayer  or  a  ceremony,  not  on  account  of  the 
comfort  it  conveyed  to  themselves,  but  on  account  of  the  vexation 
which  it  gave  to  the  Roundheads." 

2.  "We  had  a  limb  cut  off;  but  we  preserved  the  body.     We  lost 
our  colonies  ;  but  we  kept  our  constitution." 

3.  "  Perhaps  a  more  smooth  and  accommodating  spirit  of  freedom 
in  them  would  be  more  acceptable  to  us.     Perhaps  ideas  of  liberty 
might  be  desired  more  reconcilable  with  an  arbitrary  and  boundless 
authority.     Perhaps  we  might  wish  the  colonies  to   be   persuaded 
that  their  liberty  is  more  secure  when  held  in  trust  for  them  by  us 
(as  their  guardians  through  a  perpetual  minority)  than   with  any 
part  of  it  in  their  own  hands." 

4.  "An  admirable  feat  of  strategy!     What  a  general,  this  Prince 
Carl ! " 

5.  "Is  it  not  the  same  virtue  which  does  everything  for  us  here 
in  England  ?     Do  you  imagine,  then,  that  it  is  the  Land  Tax  Act 
which  raises  your  revenue  ?  that  it  is  the  annual  vote  in  the  Com- 
mittee of  Supply  which  gives  you  your  army  ?  or  that  it  is  the  Mu- 
tiny Bill  which  inspires  it  with  bravery  and  discipline  ? " 

6.  "  The  Royalists  themselves  confessed  that,  in  every  department 
of  honest  industry,  the  discarded  warriors  prospered  beyond  other 
men ;  that  none  was  charged  with  any  theft  or  robbery ;  that  none 
was  heard  to  ask  an  alms ;  and  that,  if  a  baker,  a  mason,  or  a  wag- 
oner attracted  notice  by  his  diligence  and  sobriety,  he  was  in  all 
probability  one  of  Oliver's  old  soldiers." 

7.  "  A  situation  which  I  will  not  miscall,  which  I  dare  not  name; 
which  I   hardly  know  how  to  comprehend    in   the  terms   of  any 
description." 

8.  "Is  a  politic  act  the  worse  for  being  a  generous  one  ?     Is  no 
concession  proper  but  that  which  is  made  from  your  want  of  right 
to  keep  what  you  grant  ?     Or  does  it  lessen  the  grace  or  dignity  of 
relaxing  in  the  exercise  of  an  odious  claim,  because  you  have  your 


ARRANGEMENTS    OF   WORDS  213 

evidence-room  full  of  titles  and  your  magazines  stuffed  with  arms  to 
enforce  them  ? 

II.  Which  group  of  interrogations  under  I  asserts?  which 
denies? 

III.  Find  antonyms  (page  85)  in  i  and  2. 

IV.  Note  the  antithetical  expressions  and  the  antonyms  in 
the  following :  — 

It  was  the  best  of  times,  it  was  the  worst  of  times  ;  it  was  the  age 
of  wisdom,  it  was  the  age  of  foolishness ;  it  was  the  epoch  of  belief, 
it  was  the  epoch  of  incredulity ;  it  was  the  season  of  Light,  it  was 
the  season  of  Darkness ;  it  was  the  Spring  of  hope,  it  was  the  Win- 
ter of  despair;  we  had  everything  before  us,  we  had  nothing  before 
us.  CHARLES  DICKENS  :  "  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities." 


CHAPTER   XX 

EXPOSITION 
Exposition  Distinguished  from  Pure  Description 

Exposition  THERE  is  a  kind  of  descriptive  writing  that  is  called 
description  exposition.  Of  the  following  illustrations,  the  first  is  a 
piece  of  pure  description,  the  second  is  an  example  of 
exposition ;  the  first  tells  of  a  particular  Puritan,  — 
"the  Puritan  Captain,"  — the  second  treats  of  Puritans 
in  general. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Short  of  stature  he  was,  but  strongly  built  and  athletic, 

Broad  in  the  shoulders,  deep-chested,  with  muscles  and  sinews  of 

iron; 

Brown  as  a  nut  was  his  face,  but  his  russet  beard  was  already 
Flaked  with  patches  of  snow,  as  hedges  sometimes  in  November. 
LONGFELLOW:  "  The  Courtship  of  Miles  Standish." 

II.  We  would  speak  first  of  the  Puritans,  the  most  remarkable  body 
of  men,  perhaps,  which  the  world  has  ever  produced.     The  odious 
and  ridiculous  parts  of  their  character  lie  on  the  surface.  .  .  .     The 
ostentatious  simplicity  of  their  dress,  their  sour  aspect,  their  nasal 
twang,  their  stiff  posture,  their  long  graces,  their  Hebrew  names,  the 
Scriptural  phrases  which  they  introduced  on  every  occasion,  their 
contempt  of  human  learning,  their  detestation  of  polite  amusements, 
were  indeed  fair  game  for  the  laughers.     But  it  is  not  from  the 
laughers  alone  that  the  philosophy  of  history  is  to  be  learnt.  .   .  . 

Those  who  roused  the  people  to  resistance,  who  directed  their 

214 


EXPOSITION 


215 


measures  through  a  long  series  of  eventful  years,  who  formed,  out  of 
the  most  unpromising  materials,  the  finest  army  that  Europe  had 
ever  seen,  who  trampled  down  King,  Church,  and  Aristocracy,  who 
.  .  .  made  the  name  of  England  terrible  to  every  nation  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  were  no  vulgar  fanatics.  .  .  . 

The  Puritans  were  men  whose  minds  had  derived  a  peculiar 
character  from  the  daily  contemplation  of  superior  beings  and 
eternal  interests.  Not  content  with  acknowledging,  in  general 
terms,  an  overruling  Providence,  they  habitually  ascribed  every 
event  to  the  will  of  the  Great  Being,  for  whose  power  nothing  was 
too  vast,  for  whose  inspection  nothing  was  too  minute.  .  .  .  In- 
stead of  catching  occasional  glimpses  of  the  Deity  through  an  ob- 
scuring veil,  they  aspired  to  gaze  full  on  his  intolerable  brightness, 
and  to  commune  with  Him  face  to  face.  Hence  originated  their 
contempt  for  terrestrial  distinctions.  The  difference  between  the 
greatest  and  the  meanest  of  mankind  seemed  to  vanish,  when  com- 
pared with  the  boundless  interval  which  separated  the  whole  race 
from  Him  on  whom  their  own  eyes  were  constantly  fixed.  .  .  .  On 
the  rich  and  the  eloquent,  on  nobles  and  priests,  they  looked  down 
with  contempt ;  for  they  esteemed  themselves  rich  in  a  more  precious 
treasure,  and  eloquent  in  a  more  sublime  language,  nobles  by  the 
right  of  an  earlier  creation  and  priests  by  the  imposition  of  a 
mightier  hand.  .  .  . 

.  Thus  the  Puritan  was  made  up  of  two  different  men,  the  one  all 
self-abasement,  penitence,  gratitude,  passion,  the  other  proud,  calm, 
inflexible,  sagacious.  He  prostrated  himself  in  the  dust  before  his 
Maker ;  but  he  set  his  foot  on  the  neck  of  his  King. 

MACAULAY  :  "  Essay  on  Milton." 

It  is  evident  that  exposition  has  to  do  with  the  class  Exposition 

.  ,       ,  , .    .  ,       ,  deals  with 

rather  than  with  the  individual.  general 

terms 

EXERCISE 

Consider  each  of  the  following  paragraphs  and  classify  it 
under  description  or  exposition.  Give  a  reason  for  each 
classification. 


216  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

[It  will  be  an  easy  matter  to  classify  the  paragraph  after  it  has 
been  determined,  either  that  it  treats  of  a  class  or  a  type  —  or  that 
it  pictures  something  individual.] 

1 .  a.   Our  cat  is  black  except  for  a  spot  of  white  on  the  tip  of  her 
nose  and  her  long  white  whiskers,  which  stand  out  on  both  sides  of 
her  mouth.     She  sits  contented  in  front  of  the  kitchen  fire,  waiting 
for  the  mice  that  frequent  a  hole  there. 

b.  The  cat  belongs  to  the  tiger  family ;  the  likeness  is  shown 
in  its  bright  eyes,  light  tread,  and  expression  of  face.  It  inherits  all 
these  characteristics,  but  since  it  has  been  domesticated  it  has  lost 
some  of  its  fierceness  and  strength  of  body.  Its  domestic  life  has 
made  it  more  dependent  on  people  than  on  itself. 

2.  a.   It  stood  all  alone  on  the  top  of  a  steep  hill,  an  old  spruce- 
tree,  black,  gaunt,  defiant,  its  clean-cut  sides  outlined  against  the 
gray  of  the  deepening  twilight. 

b.  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  don't  know  what  a  spruce-tree 
is?  It  is  an  evergreen,  very  much  like  a  fir;  but  its  needles  are 
more  bristly  and  grow  all  around  the  tips  of  the  branches.  Next 
time  you  come  upon  what  you  call  a  fir,  look  closely  and  see  if  it 
isn't  a  spruce. 

3.  WOODPECKERS 

Woodpeckers  are  birds  resident  in  all  parts  of  our  country  both 
in  summer  and  in  winter.  Look  for  them  in  orchards,  among 
tangles  of  wild  grapevine,  and  in  patches  of  low  wild  berries. 
Wherever  there  are  boring  larvce,  beetles,  ants,  and  fruits  of  poison- 
ivy,  dogwood,  or  cherry,  these  birds  may  be  found. 

Woodpeckers  are  creeping  birds,  like  the  nuthatches,  brown 
creepers,  and  kinglets,  but  these  do  not  impress  one  as  "  having 
been  thrown  at  a  log  and  stuck  there,"  as  do  the  downy  peckers  of 
wood.  The  nuthatches  are  most  liable  to  be  confused  with  wood- 
peckers :  their  peculiar  mode  of  locomotion,  however,  will  at  once 
distinguish  them;  'they  persist  in  standing  on  their  heads  all  the 
way  down  the  sides  of  their  well-stocked  refrigerators.  A  still  surer 
sign  of  the  identity  of  the  woodpecker  is  the  way  he  sits  upon  his 
tail,  using  it  as  a  brace. 

This  artisan  bird  is  very  heavy.  He  has  a  straight  chisel  bill, 
sharp-pointed  tail-feathers,  short  legs,  and  wide  flapping  wings.  He 


EXPOSITION 


217 


is  gayly  dressed ;  his  coloring  is  always  brilliant  and  inclined  to  be 
gaudy.  Usually  he  shows  much  clear  black  and  white,  with  dashes  of 
scarlet  or  yellow  about  the  head.  Sometimes  the  colors  are  solid, 
as  in  the  red-headed  woodpecker;  sometimes,  in  spots  and  stripes, 
as  in  the  downy  and  hairy ;  but  there  is  always  a  contrast,  never  any 
blending  of  hues. 

[Is  it  possible  to  discover  from  the  next  to  the  last  sentence  of 
the  second  paragraph  to  what  their,  them,  and  they  refer  ?  So 
reconstruct  the  sentence  that  it  shall  have  coherence.  Classify  the 
figure  of  speech  in  the  same  sentence.  Give  a  reason  for  the  use  of 
the  commas  in  the  third  sentence  of  the  first  paragraph.  Observe 
that  however  in  the  second  paragraph  is  not  an  introductory  word. 
(See  page  28.)] 

4.   A  TROLLEY-CAR 

A  trolley-car  is  a  huge  yellow  beetle,  with  a  long  horn  like  a  fish- 
pole  projecting  from  his  back.  By  means  of  this  pole  he  is  able  to 
move  along,  fast  or  slow,  as  he  wishes.  Whenever  he  moves,  he 
utters  a  groaning  sound.  He  travels  on  certain  well-defined  paths, 
and  whenever  he  meets  an  unhappy  mortal,  he  crushes  him  in  his 
tracks.  He  has  two  wings,  one  fore  and  one  aft,  but,  strange  to  say, 
he  does  not  use  them  for  the  purposes  of  locomotion.  Along  his 
sides  are  openings,  which  afford  a  view  of  his  interior. 

At  night,  as  he  prowls  along  seeking  whom  he  may  devour,  his 
one  large  eye  throws  out  a  stream  of  fire  far  in  advance,  and  light- 
ning plays  about  his  feet.  Thunder  proceeds  out  of  his  mouth. 

If  you  ever  meet  him,  you  will  know  him.  Take  my  advice  and 
let  him  alone.  He  is  a  dangerous  animal. 

[Substitute  something  more  simple  and  direct  for  the  worn-out 
expressions  unhappy  mortal,  line  5,  and  seeking  whom  he  may  de- 
vour, line  9.  Why  is  there  no  comma  in  the  first  line  between  huge 
and  yellow  f\ 

5.   FRIENDSHIP 

Unlike  Love,  Friendship  walks  with  both  feet  on  the  ground ;  it 
does  not  idealize,  but  sees  face  to  face,  clearly  and  rationally.  Friend- 
ship does  not  look  for  roses  merely  ;  it  expects  to  find  thorns.  Love 


2l8  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

cries  out  to  Reason  to  guard  and  guide  lesf  Love  lose  its  way,  but 
Friendship  holds  the  hand  of  Charity  close,  and  dares  not  loose  its 
hold,  for  it  has  need  of  Charity  even  unto  the  end. 

[In  the  last  sentence,  Love  is  repeated  for  the  sake  of  clearness. 
Would  the  use  of  direct  discourse  give  equal  clearness  ?  With  direct 
discourse  the  sentence  would  read :  Love  cries  out  to  Reason,  "  Guard 
and  guide,  lest  I  lose  my  way! "  Would  the  sentence  gain  or  lose 
life  by  the  use  of  direct  discourse  as  indicated  ?  Give  a  reason  for 
your  answer.  In  these  exercises,  which  of  the  paragraphs  .given  for 
discussion  are  allegorical  ?] 

Description  used  for  the  Purpose  of  Exposition 

A  person  may  be  described  for  the  purpose  of  reveal- 
ing one  or  more  of  his  characteristics.  In  that  case,  his 
features,  bearing,  conversation,  and  acts  are  portrayed, 
not  primarily  that  they  may  pass  before  the  reader  as  a 
picture,  but  that  they  may  indicate  or  expound  a  part  of 
his  character.  One  may  describe  a  scene  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  its  influence  rather  than  for  the  sake 
of  reproducing  the  scene  itself.  Such  descriptive  writ- 
ing as  that  just  referred  to  is  classed  as  exposition. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  The  speaker  .  .  .  was  one  of  those  figures  for  whom  all  the 
world  instinctively  makes  way,  as  it  would  for  a  battering-ram.     He 
was  not  much  above  the  middle  height,  but  the  impression  of  enor- 
mous force  which  was  conveyed  by  his  capacious  chest  and  brawny 
arms  bared  to  the  shoulder  was  deepened  by  the  keen  sense  and  quiet 
resolution  expressed  in  his  glance  and  in  every  furrow  of  his  cheek 
and  brow.  GEORGE  ELIOT  :  "  Romola." 

II.  A  vague  and  indescribable  awe  was  creeping  over  me.  .  .  . 
Everything  began  to  be  affected  by  the  working  of  my  mind.     The 
whispering  of  the  wind  among  the  citron-trees  beneath  my  window 


EXPOSITION  219 

had  something  sinister.  .  .  .  The  groves  presented  a  gulf  of 
shadows ;  the  thickets,  indistinct  and  ghastly  shapes.  I  was  glad 
to  close  the  window,  but  my  chamber  itself  became  infected.  There 
was  a  slight  rustling  noise  overhead ;  a  bat  suddenly  emerged  from 
a  broken  panel  of  the  ceiling,  flitting , about  the  room  and  athwart 
my  s'olitary  lamp ;  and  as  the  fateful  bird  almost  flouted  my  face 
with  his  noiseless  wing,  the  grotesque  faces  carved  in  high  relief  in 
the  cedar  ceiling,  whence  he  had  emerged,  seemed  to  mop  and  mow 
at  me. 
WASHINGTON  IRVING:  "The  Mysterious  Chambers "  ("The  Alhambra"). 

The   preceding   explanations   and   exercises    of    this  Thepurpose 
chapter  should  have  made  it  evident  that  the  purpose  tion 
of  exposition   is  different   from  that  of   description  in 
general.     The  purpose  of  description  is  to  portray,  to 
picture ;  the  purpose  of  exposition  is  to  explain,  to  show 
the  exact  meaning  of  the  subject  under  consideration. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write  two  paragraphs ;  let  the  first  be  a  description,  the 
second,  an  exposition.  Subjects  may  be  chosen  from  the  fol- 
lowing list :  — 

1.  The  House  in  which  I  like  to  visit.  Houses. 

2.  My  Plum-Tree.  Trees. 

3.  The  Rose  on  my  Desk.  The  American 

Beauty  Rose. 

4.  My  Brother's  Owl.  «        Owls. 

5.  Where  we  play  Tennis.  Tennis  Courts. 

II.  George  Eliot,  in  Chapter  x  of  "  Silas  Marner,"  writes 
of  "  Poor  Dolly's  exposition  of  her  simple  Raveloe  theology." 
Find  in  Part  ii,  Chapter  xvi,  more  of  Dolly's  exposition. 

III.  What  exposition  occurs  in  stanza  iv,  prelude  to  Part  i ; 
stanza  vi,  Part  i ;  and  stanza  viii,  Part  ii,  of  "  The  Vision  of 
Sir  Launfal "  ? 


220  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

IV.  In  Act  iv,  Scene  i,  of  "The  Merchant  of  Venice," 
Shylock  says  :  — 

"  You  know  the  law,  your  exposition 
Hath  been  most  sound." 

What  is  the  subject  of  the  exposition  to  which  he  refers  ? 

A  Method  of  Exposition 

The  method  of  exposition  pursued  in  the  following 
paragraphs  is  often  desirable.  The  writer  first  classes 
the  wolf  among  animals  and  shows  his  resemblance 
to  the  dog,  an  animal  with  which  we  are  well  ac- 
quainted. She  then  excludes  him  from  the  group 
"dog,"  and  gives  the  characteristics  that  mark  him  a 

wolf. 

WOLVES 

Of  all  animals,  wolves  are  among  the  wildest,  wariest,  and  most 
widely  removed  from  human  associations.  Their  range  encircles  the 
world  in  the  Arctic  Zone  and  extends  southward  into  the  tropics. 

Think  of  a  large,  long-legged,  bare-boned  dog,  having  a  long  tail 
that  hangs  over  its  haunches  instead  of  being  curled  upward,  and 
you  have  a  fairly  good  picture  of  the  typical  wolf.  Yet  it  may  be 
distinguished  from  the  dog  by  its  lank  body,  its  sloping  forehead, 
and  oblique  eyes.  While  the  natural  voice  of  the  wolf  is  a  loud 
howl,  it  may  learn  to  bark  if  confined  with  dogs  —  in  fact  it  exhibits 
all  the  characteristics  of  a  domesticated  dog  if  tamed  when  young. 
It  has  been  said  that  these  two  animals  so  closely  resemble  each 
other  that  naturalists  have  been  known  to  mistake  them. 

Very  powerful,  with  strong  and  formidably  armed  jaws,  wolves  are 
everywhere  destructive  and  consequently  are  universally  detested. 
They  run  with  great  speed  and  in  the  chase  show  as  much  cunning 
as  the  fox.  while  in  mental  qualities  they  equal  this  animal  in  every 
respect. 

They  roam  over  wide  areas,  often  suddenly  appearing  where  none 
have  been  seen  for  years,  and  as  quickly  vanishing  ;  but  this  does 


EXPOSITION  221 

not  seem  strange  when  we  realize  that  these  wild  beasts  often  cover 
from  twenty-five  to  forty  miles  in  a  single  night.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  dwellings  they  appear  only  after  twilight,  but  in  secluded 
places  they  are  on  the  hunt  all  day. 

Wolves  eat  any  sort  of  flesh,  irrespective  of  its  kind  or  condition, 
and,  when  pressed  by  hunger,  eat  vegetables  and  even  moss. 

[Would  it  be  well  to  substitute  "  one  for  the  other "  for  them  in 
the  last  sentence  of  the  second  paragraph  ?  Would  you  substitute 
a  different  word  for  mistake  in  the  same  paragraph  ?  Express  a 
principal  for  this  in  the  fourth  paragraph.  Note  that  the  second 
paragraph  is  developed  by  means  of  comparison  and  contrast. 
Such  a  method  is  often  employed  in  the  expository  paragraph.] 

Definition  in  Exposition 

One  good  way  to  explain  is  to  define.     It  is  often  Definition 
both   natural   and   useful  to   begin   exposition    with    a 

definition. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

i.  First,  then,  of  the  distinction  between  the  classes  who  work 
and  the  classes  who  play.  Of  course  we  must  agree  upon  a  defini- 
tion of  these  terms,  —  work  and  play,  —  before  going  farther.  Now, 
roughly,  .  .  .  play  is  an  exertion  of  body  or  mind  made  to  please 
ourselves  and  with  no  determined  end ;  and  work  is  a  thing  done 
because  it  ought  to  be  done,  and  with  a  determined  end.  You  play, 
as  you  call  it,  at  cricket,  for  instance.  That  is  as  hard  work  as  any- 
thing else ;  but  it  amuses  you,  and  it  has  no  result  but  the  amuse- 
ment. If  it  were  done  as  an  ordered  form  of  exercise,  for  health's 
sake,  it  would  become  work  directly.  So,  in  like  manner,  whatever 
we  do  to  please  ourselves  and  only  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure,  not 
for  an  ultimate  object,  is  play,  the  pleasing  thing,  not  the  useful  thing. 
Play  may  be  useful  in  a  secondary  sense  (nothing  is,  indeed,  more 
useful  or  necessary)  ;  but  the  use  of  it  depends  on  its  being  sponta- 
neous. JOHN  RUSKIN:  "Work." 

[Distinguish  directly  from  immediately  with  reference  to  mean- 
ing-] 


222  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

II.  Chapter  xi  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  expounds  the 
meaning  of  faith.  The  opening  sentence  is  a  definition,  a  brief  ex- 
position in  itself:  "Faith  is  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the 
evidence  of  things  not  seen." 

what  a  A  definition    should  include    all  that  is  typical,  and 

should  be  exclude  all  that  is  not  typical,  of  what  is  defined.  It 
should,  moreover,  be  concise  and  expressed  in  words 
that  are  sure  to  be  understood.  "  An  octagon  is  a  plane 
figure  having  eight  sides  "  fulfils  the  requirements  of  a 
good  definition.  It  first  classes  the  octagon  with  plane 
figures,  thus,  very  briefly,  excluding  it  from  everything 
but  plane  figures  and  giving  a  good  deal  of  exact  infor- 
mation about  it;  it  next  distinguishes  it  from  other 
plane  figures,  by  mentioning  the  fact  that  it  has  eight 
sides. 

A  definition  should  not  make  use  of  the  word  that  is 
to  be  defined  (or  of  any  other  word  from  the  same  root), 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  that  word.  For  example, 
the  statement  "Working  is  doing  work  "  does  not  make 
clear  the  meaning  of  working :  it  is  little  better  than  a 
repetition  ;  it  neither  defines  nor  explains. 

EXERCISE 

In  a  written  paragraph,  define  the  words  description  and 
exposition,  as  applied  to  rhetoric. 

Exposition  in  Answer  to  "What?"  and  "How?" 
One  uses  exposition  when  one  answers  such  questions 
as :    What  is  flax  ?     What  is  a  cloud  ?   and  when  one 
tells  how  to  weave,  how  to  weld,  or  describes  any  other 
process. 


EXPOSITION  223 

.  EXERCISES 

I.  Consider  the  following  expositions,  explanations  of  how 
to  do  things  :  — 

i.   How  TO  BIND  MAGAZINE  ARTICLES  AT  HOME 

I  save  magazine  articles  on  several  subjects,  —  such  as  geography, 
geology,  history,  and  art,  —  and,  when  I  have  collected  several  on 
one  subject,  I  bind  them  together.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  uti- 
lize my  plan. 

Obtain  sheets  of  rough  neutral  or  soft-colored  paper,  and  get  a 
stationer  to  cut  it  into  sheets  the  dimensions  of  which  are  seven 
inches  wide  by  ten  inches  long.  This  size  will  cover  any  magazine 
article  except  from  such  periodicals  as  Science.  Use  a  particular 
color  for  each  subject,  —  blue,  for  instance,  for  geography,  —  and 
then  it  may  be  known  at  a  glance  what  set  of  articles  is  wished  for 
reference. 

Place  the  articles  together.  Now  it  will  be  noticed  that  the 
pages  do  not  follow  in  the  right  order,  being  from  different  sources ; 
therefore,  renumber  them  in  lead  pencil.  Sometimes  a  page  of 
utterly  foreign  matter  will  have  to  be  included  in  order  to  get  the 
conclusion  of  the  desired  subject.  Plan  to  have  two  of  these  pages 
containing  irrelevant  matter  come  together,  and  stick  their  edges 
with  paste.  Be  sure  not  to  use  mucilage,  as  it  is  stiff  when  dry  and 
is  very  likely  to  discolor. 

Select  a  covering  paper.  Rule  a  decorative  border  of  ink  lines 
carefully  planned,  and,  if  an  appropriate  picture  or  printed  word  per- 
taining to  the  subject  can  be  found,  paste  it  on  the  cover.  Print  the 
title. 

Punch  holes  in  the  cover  at  points  two  inches  from  each  top 
edge,  and  one-half  inch  from  the  back.  Now  lay  aside  the  front 
cover;  it  might  become  disfigured  in  the  following  work.  Punch  all 
the  magazine  articles ;  use  the  back  cover  as  a  guide.  Keep  the 
outside  edges-  together.  This  will  make  ragged  pieces  of  paper 
showing  out  of  the  back  of  the  binder,  but  your  long  shears,  or, 
better,  an  obliging  printer,  will  trim  these  unsightly  places. 


224  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

Fasten  articles  and  covers  together  with  brass  snaps ;  use  longer 
fastenings  than  are  actually  necessary,  so  that  succeeding  articles 
may  be  added  as  they  are  found. 

An  index,  inserted  at  the  back  and  giving  subject  rather  than 
title,  is  of  great  usefulness. 

[Is  the  repetition  of  several  in  the  first  paragraph  necessary  ? 
For  what  does  it  in  the  first  sentence  of  the  second  paragraph  stand  ? 
for  sheets  or  for  paper.  ?  So  rewrite  the  first  sentence  of  the  second 
paragraph  that  it  shall  have  coherence.  Should  commas  be  used 
with  the  dashes  in  the  third  sentence  of  the  second  paragraph  ? 
(See  page  49).  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer.  So  reconstruct  the 
second  sentence  of  the  third  paragraph  that  it  shall  have  unity.  In 
the  sentence  last  referred  to,  where  should  the  participial  phrase  be 
placed  ?  In  the  third  sentence  of  the  third  paragraph,  included  and 
conclusion  detract  from  the  smoothness  of  the  sentence,  because  the 
accented  syllable  in  each  has  the  same  sound  and  is  prominent. 
Find  a  substitute  for  one  of  the  words.] 

2.    How  TO  PEEL  AN  ONION 

The  principal  thing  in  peeling  an  onion  is  to  remove  its  outer 
covering  in  such  a  manner  as  to  save  yourself  from  tears. 

With  this  end  in  view,  fill  a  dish  with  clear  water  and  procure  a 
small  paring-knife.  With  the  onion  in  one  hand  and  the  knife  in 
the  other,  you  are  ready.  Plunge  the  onion  under  the  water,  cut  a 
slice  from  the  top  and  another  from  the  root  end,  then  tear  the  tough 
skin  off  until  only  the  smooth  white  bulb  remains  in  your  hand. 
You  may  laugh  and  chat  as  you  work. 

[In  the  first  sentence,  the  principal  thing  is  a  vague  expression. 
Something  more  definite  —  '"an  important  object,"  for  instance  — 
might  be  substituted.] 

3.   How  SOME  PERSONS  PICK  FRUIT 

In  some  parts  of  Japan,  where  the  climate  is  moist  and  even,  bam- 
boos and  persimmon-trees  thrive.  A  persimmon-tree  grew  in  our 
yard,  and  I  have  often  tasted  of  its  ripe  fruits.  Our  Japanese  ser- 
vants enjoyed  them,  and  one  of  them  would  often  get  the  fruits  in 
the  way  I  am  going  to  describe. 


EXPOSITION  225 

As  our  persimmon-tree  was  not  by  any  means  a  small  one,  he 
would  first  hunt  for  a  bamboo  pole  of  the  required  length,  which  he 
thought  was  strong  enough  for  his  purpose.  Then,  with  an  axe, 
he  would  split  one  end  of  the  pole  as  nearly  in  the  middle  as  possible, 
taking  care  not  to  split  it  too  far,  as  bamboo  splits  fairly  easily.  He 
then  opened  the  split  and  inserted  into  the  opening,  at  right  angles 
with  the  length  of  the  pole,  a  small  stick  that  was  a  little  longer 
than  the  diameter  of  the  bamboo  pole,  taking  care  that  the  stick 
protruded  a  little  from  both  sides  of  the  opening.  Then  the  split 
was  kept  open  and  he  had  a  Y-shape,  but  the  horns  of  the  Y  were 
very  short  and  close  together. 

His  implement  prepared,  he  would  select  a  persimmon,  would 
raise  the  pole  with  the  split  end  uppermost,  and  firmly  catch,  in 
the  split  of  the  bamboo  pole,  the  stem  on  which  the  persimmon 
hung.  He  would  then  turn  the  pole  on  its  axis,  thus  twisting  and 
breaking  off  the  stem  caught  in  the  split.  Next,  he  would  carefully 
lower  the  pole  with  the  persimmon  hanging  from  the  split,  and  take 
his  reward  by  tasting  the  fruit. 

[In  the  last  sentence  of  the  first  paragraph,  are  both  the  first  and 
the  second  them  clear  as  reference  words  ?  Rewrite  the  sentence ; 
avoid  the  unnecessary  repetition  of  them.  The  word  split  is  used  a 
good  many  times  in  the  second  and  third  paragraphs.  Does  the 
writer  repeat  the  word  carelessly  or  intentionally  ?  Give  a  reason 
for  your  answer.  Find  a  substitute  for  split  whenever  another  word 
will  serve  the  purpose.  Give  a  reason  for  the  use  of  each  comma  in 
the  first  and  second  sentences  of  the  second  paragraph.] 

4.  PRESSING  SEAWEED 

My  process  of  pressing  seaweed  is  very  simple.  I  select  a  spray 
that  I  wish  to  keep,  and  bring  out  the  few  things  I  need  for  the 
work,  to  the  cool,  yet  not  too  breezy,  back  porch.  All  I  need  are  a 
basin  of  clear  water,  a  camel's-hair  brush,  and  some  stiff  white  note- 
paper.  I  put  the  seaweed  into  the  basin,  and  when  it  has  spread 
out  all  its  strands,  I  slip  the  paper  under  it,  then,  tipping  it  gently 
for  the  water  to  run  off,  I  lift  paper  and  weed  out.  With  my  little 
brush  I  smooth  out  the  tiny  fronds  in  the  shape  and  position  I  wish 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


Clearness 
and  ac- 
curacy es- 
sential in 
exposition 


Selection  of 
material 


Language 


them  to  lie  in  ;  and  lastly,  I  take  the  paper  with  the  seaweed  on  it  and 
place  it  in  the  sun  to  dry. 

[Is  process,  line  i,  or  method  the  proper  word  ?  Substitute  for 
things  in  the  second  sentence  a  more  definite  word.  Give  a  reason 
for  the  use  of  the  commas  in  the  third  sentence.  Why  is  there  no 
comma  after  stiff?  In  the  fourth  sentence,  is  it  clear  to  what  the 
last  it  refers  ?  So  reconstruct  the  fourth  sentence  that  you  give  it 
coherence  by  using  a  noun  instead  of  the  last  /'/.  Would  it  be 
correct  to  begin  a  new  paragraph  with  /  select  and  another  with 
/  put  ?  Give  a  reason  for  each  of  your  answers.] 

II.  Try  to  explain  one  of  the  following  simple  and  familiar 
processes  so  clearly  and  accurately  that  any  one  utilizing  your 
exposition  will  attain  a  satisfactory  result :  — 


1.  Sharpening  a  lead  pencil. 

2.  Sewing  on  a  button. 

3.  Putting  up  a  swing. 

4.  Paring  an  apple. 

5.  Blowing  a  bubble. 

6.  Hanging  a  picture. 

7.  Tying  a  "  four-in-hand." 

8.  Saddling  a  horse. 


9.  Lacing  a  shoe. 

10.  Trimming  a  lamp. 

1 1 .  Making  a  flower-bed. 

12.  Climbing  a  ladder. 

13.  Sending  up  a  kite. 

14.  Covering  a  book. 

15.  Making  an  envelope. 

1 6.  Planting  a  tree. 


What  the  Writing  of  an  Exposition  Requires 

A  writer's  purpose  is  his  guide  in  the  selection  of 
material.  For  narration,  as  has  been  seen,  he  chooses 
with  reference  to  his  climax ;  for  description,  he  selects 
characteristic  details,  those  which  distinguish  the  object 
described  from  other  objects;  for  exposition,  he  uses 
such  material  as  helps  to  explain,  unfold,  or  expound 
his  subject. 

In  exposition,  one's  language  should  be  plain  and 
simple ;  one  should  never  be  vague,  since  the  purpose 
of  exposition  is  to  make  a  meaning  clear. 


EXPOSITION  227 

Comparisons  and  contrasts  are  likely  to  prove  useful  compari- 
in  exposition.     If  one  should  choose  the  subject  "Char-  contrasts 
ity,"  one  might  compare  Sir  Launfal's  two  gifts  to  the 
leper,  contrasting  the  first  gift,  the  uncharitable,  with 
the  second,  the  charitable ;    and  thus  might  bring  out 
the  vital  difference  between  charity  and  its  opposite. 

Naturally,  the  simile  and  the  metaphor  are  likely  to  simiieand 
be  serviceable  in  calling  attention  to  resemblances. 

An  example  often  helps  in  expounding  an  idea.     In  Examples 
the  exposition  of  faith,  Chapter  xi  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  more  than  a  dozen  examples  of  what  consti- 
tutes faith  are  given.     Paragraph  development  by  means 
of  examples  is  frequently  found  in  exposition. 

In  writing  any  other  than  a  very  brief  exposition,  an 
outline  is  not  merely  desirable  but  necessary  (see  page 
1 60,  n,  i,  an  outline  for  the  exposition  of  a  character); 
the  topics  should  have  sequence  and  be  well  connected ; 
the  transitions  from  one  part  of  the  work  to  another 
should  be  carefully  made ;  and  a  summary  should  be 
given  whenever  it  will  help  the  reader  by  affording  him  a 
view  of  ground  previously  covered.  One  should  remem- 
ber that  the  beginning  of  the  composition  and  the  end 
are  important  parts,  the  end  being  most  conspicuous. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Write,  as  skilfully  as  possible,  a  brief  description  and  a 
brief  exposition.  Choose  a  subject  for  each  from  the  following 
list.  Make  an  outline.  Remember  that  description  pictures, 
exposition  explains,  or  unfolds  a  meaning. 


228  PRINCIPLES   OF    RHETORIC 

1 .  Friendship. 

2.  Our  Friendship. 

3.  The  Friendship  of  Damon  and  Pythias. 

4.  Knights. 

5.  The  Most  Knightlike  Man  I  Know. 

6.  Sir  Launcelot,  the  Knight.     (See  Tennyson's  "The  Idylls  of 

the  King.") 

7.  Sir  Launfal,  the  Knight.     (See  Lowell's  "  The  Vision  of  Sir 

Launfal.") 

8.  Charity. 

[Consult  Chapter  xiii  of  First  Corinthians.  In  that 
exposition  St.  Paul  explains  that  charity  is  essential,  tells 
what  it  is,  what  it  is  not,  what  it  does  not  do,  what  it  does, 
and  what  is  its  rank  with  reference  to  the  other  two  great 
spiritual  gifts,  faith  and  hope.] 

9.  The  Charity  of  my  Neighbor. 

10.  My  Mother's  Charity. 

11.  The  Charity  of  the  Ancient  Mariner.    (See  Coleridge's  "The 

Ancient  Mariner.") 

12.  The  Charity  of  Dolly  Winthrop.     (See  "  Silas  Marner.") 

13.  My  Landlord. 

14.  Mr.   Snell,   the   Landlord    of   the   Rainbow.     (See   "  Silas 

Marner.") 

15.  Landlords. 

1 6.  Loyalty. 

17.  The  Loyalty  of  a  Member  of  our  Club. 

18.  The  Loyalty  of  a  Hero. 

19.  The  Loyalty  of  Miss  Pross  to  Lucie.    (See  Dickens's  "  A  Tale 

of  Two  Cities.") 


II.  Write  an  editorial  paragraph  for  a  school  paper.  Show 
that  the  school  needs  a  library  or  other  gift.  Good  newspapers 
furnish  models. 

[The  brief  editorial  brings  to  notice  some  event  of  the  day  and 
comments  upon  it  concisely  and  pointedly.] 


EXPOSITION  229 

Exposition  makes  use  of  description  and  narration.   Description 
Description   is   used  at  the   beginning   of   the   second  tion^n" 
paragraph  of  "  Wolves  "  (page  220),  and  narration  oc-  expos 
curs  in  the  expository  paragraph  at  the  opening  of  Chap- 
ter i,  "  Silas  Marner." 

EXERCISE 

As  has  been  said,  exposition  utilizes  description  and  nar- 
ration ;  indeed,  one  usually  finds  the  several  kinds  of  com- 
position aiding  one  another.  The  following  selections  are, 
however,  easily  classified  as  chiefly  narrative,  descriptive,  or 
expository.  Make  the  classifications  and  give  a  reason  for 
each  of  them. 

1.  The  sea  remembers  nothing.     It  is  feline.     It  licks  your  feet, 
—  its  huge  flanks  purr  very  pleasantly  for  you  ;  but  it  will  crack  your 
bones  and  eat  you,  for  all  that,  and  wipe  the  crimsoned  foam  from 
its  jaws  as  if  nothing  had  happened.     The  mountains  give  their  lost 
children  berries  and  water ;  the  sea  mocks  their  thirst  and  lets  them 
die.     The  mountains  have  a  grand,  stupid,  lovable  tranquillity  ;•  the 
sea  has  a  fascinating,  treacherous  intelligence.     The  mountains  lie 
about  like  huge  ruminants,  their  broad  backs  awful  to  look  upon, 
but  safe  to  handle.     The  sea  smooths  its  silver  scales  until  you  can- 
not see  their  joints,  —  but  their  shining  is  that  of  a  snake's  belly, 
after  all.  ...     In  deep  suggestiveness  I  find  as  great  a  difference. 
The  mountains  dwarf  mankind  and  foreshorten  the  procession  of  its 
long  generations.     The  sea  drowns  out  humanity  and  time ;  it  has 
no  sympathy  with  either ;  for  it  belongs  to  eternity,  and  of  that  it 
sings  its  monotonous  song  forever  and  ever. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES:  "  The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table." 

[Classify  the  figures  of  speech  in  the  preceding  quotation.  Does 
Holmes  write  of  a  special  sea  and  a  special  mountain  or  of  the  sea 
and  the  mountains  in  general  ?] 

2.  "  Do  you  hear  me   call  ?     Come  here ! "   cried  Sikes.     The 
animal  came  up  from  the  very  force  of  habit ;  but  as  Sikes  stooped 


230  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

to  attach  the  handkerchief  to  his  throat,  he  uttered  a  low  growl  and 
started  back.  ,' 

"Come  back!"  said  the  robber,  stamping  on  the  ground. 

The  dog  wagged  his  tail  but  moved  not.  Sikes  made  a  running 
noose  and  called  him  again. 

The  dog  advanced,  retreated,  paused  an  instant,  turned,  and 
scoured  away  at  his  hardest  speed. 

The  man  whistled  again  and  again,  and  sat  down  and  waited  in 
the  expectation  that  he  would  return.  But  no  dog  appeared,  and  at 

length  he  resumed  his  journey. 

CHARLES  DICKENS  :  "  Oliver  Twist." 

3.  The  third  qualification  of  an  epic  poem  is  its  greatness.  The 
anger  of  Achilles  was  of  such  consequence  that  it  embroiled  the 
kings  of  Greece,  destroyed  the  heroes  of  Asia,  and  engaged  all 
the  gods  in  factions.  The  settlement  of  ^Eneas  in  Italy  produced 
the  Caesars,  and  gave  birth  to  the  Roman  empire.  Milton's  subject 
was  still  greater  than  either  of  the  former ;  it  does  not  determine  the 
fate  of  single  persons  or  nations,  but  of  a  whole  species.  The  united 
powers  of  hell  are  joined  together  for  the  destruction  of  mankind, 
which  they  effected  in  part,  and  would  have  completed,  had  not 
Omnipotence  Itself  interposed.  The  principal  actors  are  man  in  his 
greatest  perfection,  and  woman  in  her  highest  beauty.  Their  ene- 
mies are  the  fallen  angels ;  the  Messiah  is  their  friend,  and  the 
Almighty  their  protector.  In  short,  everything  that  is  great  in  the 
whole  circle  of  being,  whether  within  the  verge  of  nature  or  out  of 
it,  has  a  proper  part  assigned  it  in  this  admirable  poem. 

JOSEPH  ADDISON  :  "  The  Action  of  Paradise  Lost." 

[Note  the  development  of  the  paragraph  in  3  by  means  of  specific 
examples.] 

4.    Shut  in  from  all  the  world  without, 
We  sat  the  clean-winged  hearth  about, 
Content  to  let  the  north  wind  roar 
In  baffled  rage  at  pane  and  door, 
While  the  red  logs  before  us  beat 
The  frost-line  back  with  tropic  heat ; 
And  ever,  when  a  louder  blast 


EXPOSITION  231 

Shook  beam  and  rafter  as  it  passed, 
The  merrier  up  its  roaring  draught 
The  great  throat  of  the  chimney  laughed ; 
The  house-dog  on  his  paws  outspread 
Laid  to  the  fire  his  drowsy  head, 
The  cat's  dark  silhouette  on  the  wall 
A  couchant  tiger's  seemed  to  fall ; 
And,  for  the  winter  fireside  meet, 
Between  the  andirons,  straddling  feet, 
The  mug  of  cider  simmered  slow, 
The  apples  sputtered  in  a  row, 
And  close  at  hand  the  basket  stood, 
With  nuts  from  brown  October's  wood. 

JOHN  GREENLEAF  WHITTIER  :  "  Snow-Bound." 

5.  Revenge  is  a  kinde  of  Wilde  Justice ;  which  the  more  Mans 
Nature  runs  to,  the  more  ought  Law  to  weed  it  out.     For  as  for  the 
first  Wrong,  it  doth  but  offend  the  Law,  but  the  Revenge  of  that 
wrong,  putteth  the  Law  out  of  Office.     Certainly,  in  taking  Revenge, 
A  Man  is  but  even  with  his  Enemy ;  But  in  passing  it  over,  he  is 
Superior  :  For  it  is  a  Prince's  part  to  Pardon.  .  .  .     That  which  is 
past,  is  gone,  and  Irrevocable ;  And  wise  Men  have  enough  to  doe, 
with  things  present,  and  to  come  :  Therefore,  they  doe  but  trifle  with 
themselves,  that  labor  in  past  matters.  .  .  .     The  most  Tolerable 
Sort  of  Revenge,  is  for  those  wrongs  which  there  is  no  Law  to 
remedy :  But  then,  let  a  man  take  heed,  the  Revenge  be  such,  as 
there  is  no  law  to  punish.  .  .  .     This  is  certaine ;  That  a  Man  that 
studieth  Revenge,  keepes  his  owne  Wounds  greene,  which  otherwise 
would  heale,  and  doe  well. 

FRANCIS  BACON:  "Of  Revenge"  (published  1625). 

6.  Now  I  further  saw  that  betwixt  them  and  the  gate  was  a  river, 
but  there  was  no  bridge  to  go  over,  and  the  river  was  very  deep.    At 
the  sight,  therefore,  of  this  river,  the  pilgrim^  were  much  stunned ; 
but  the  men  that  went  with  them  said,  "  You  must  go  through,  or 
you  cannot  come  at  the  gate." 

The  pilgrims  then  began  to  inquire  if  there  was  no  other  way  to 
the  gate  ?     To  which  they  answered,  "  Yes ;  but  there  hath  not  any, 


232  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

save  two,  to  wit,  Enoch  and  Elijah,  been  permitted  to  tread  that  path 
since  the  foundation  of  the  world,  nor  shall  until  the  last  trumpet 
shall  sound/'  Then  the  pilgrims  — especially  Christian  —  began  to 
despond  in  their  minds,  and  looked  this  way  and  that ;  but  no  way 
could  be  found. by  them  by  which  they  could  escape  the  river.  Then 
they  asked  the  men  if  the  waters  were  all  of  a  depth  ?  They  said, 
"  No ;  "  yet  they  could  not  help  them  in  that  case  :  "  for,"  said  they, 
"  you  shall  find  it  deeper  or  shallower,  as  you  believe  in  the  King  of 
the  place."  JOHN  BUNYAN:  "Pilgrim's  Progress." 

7.  Long  lines  of  cliff  breaking  have  left  a  chasm ; 
And  in  the  chasm  are  foam  and  yellow  sands ; 
Beyond,  red  roofs  about  a  narrow  wharf 

In  cluster ;  then  a  moulder'd  church  ;  and  higher 
A  long  street  climbs  to  one  tall-towered  mill ; 
And  high  in  heaven  behind  it  a  gray  down 
With  Danish  barrows  ;  and  a  hazel  wood, 
By  autumn  nutters  haunted,  flourishes 
Green  in  a  cuplike  hollow  of  the  down. 

ALFRED  TENNYSON  :  "  Enoch  Arden." 

[Find  an  epithet  in  7.     Define  barrows  and  down.~\ 

8.  But  a  classic  is  properly  a  book  which  maintains  itself  by  virtue 
of  that  happy  coalescence  of  matter  and  style,  that  innate  and  ex- 
quisite sympathy  between  the  thought  that  gives  life  and  the  form 
that  consents  to  every  mood  of  grace  and  dignity,  which  can  be  sim- 
ple without  being  vulgar,  elevated  without  being  distant,  and  which 
is  something  neither  ancient  nor  modern,  always  new,  and  incapable 
of  growing  old.  JAMES  RUSSELL  LOWELL:  "  Essay  on  Spenser." 

9.  The  poets  are  called  creators,  because  with  their  magical  words 
they  bring  forth  to  our  eyesight  the  abundant  images  and  beauties  of 
creation.    They  put  them  there,  if  the  reader  pleases  ;  and  so  are  liter- 
ally creators.     But  whether  put  there  or  discovered,  whether  created 
or  invented  (for  invention  means  nothing  but  finding  out),  there  they 
are.  .  .  .     Between  the  tree  of  a  country  clown  and  the  tree  of  a 
Milton  or  Spenser,  what  a  difference  in    point   of    productiveness  ! 
Between  the  plodding  of  a  sexton  through  a  churchyard  and   the 


EXPOSITION 


233 


walk  of  a  Gray,1  what  a  difference  !  What  a  difference  between  the 
Bermudas  of  a  shipbuilder  and  the  Bermoothes  of  Shakespeare,2 
the  isle 

"  Full  of  noises, 
Sounds,  and  sweet  airs,  that  give  delight  and  hurt  not  ;  " 

the  isle  of  elves  and  fairies,  that  chased  the  tide  to  and  fro  on  the 
seashore  ;  of  coral-bones  and  the  knell  of  sea  nymphs  ;  of  spirits 
dancing  on  the  sands,  and  singing  amidst  the  hushes  of  the  wind; 
of  Caliban,  whose  brute  nature  enchantment  had  made  poetical  ;  of 
Ariel,  who  lay  in  cowslip  bells,  and  rode  upon  the  bat  ;  of  Miranda, 
who  wept  when  she  saw  Ferdinand  work  so  hard,  and  begged  him  to 
let  her  help.  .  .  .  Such  are  the  discoveries  which  the  poets  make 
for  us  ;  worlds  to  which  that  of  Columbus  was  but  a  handful  of  brute 
matter.  LEIGH  HUNT:  "  On  the  Realities  of  Imagination." 

Lectures,  orations,  essays,  —  whether  critical,  instruc-  where  to 

,          i  •      •  i      i      i          •         /         look  f°r 
tive,  or  conversational,  —  editorials,  book  reviews  (see  exposition 

Appendix),  and  text-books  contain  a  good  deal  of 
exposition. 

1  See  Gray's  "  Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard." 

2  See  Shakespeare's  "The  Tempest." 


CHAPTER   XXI 

ARGUMENTATION  l 
What  Argumentation  Is 

Arguments  WHILE  exposition  makes  clear  one's  meaning,  it  does 
not,  necessarily,  lead  others  to  adopt  the  ideas  one  un- 
folds or  explains.  To  convince  another,  Argumentation 
is  used ;  for  argumentation  is  the  process  of  making 
another  believe  what  the  speaker  or  writer  believes. 
Exposition  is  employed  to  reveal  a  meaning ;  argumen- 
tation, to  establish  a  truth.  In  denning  and  in  reciting, 
exposition  is  repeatedly  employed ;  in  class  discussions, 
arguments  are  presented  and  the  principles  of  argumen- 
tation are  used. 

Argument          An  Argument  is  a  reason  offered  as  proof  or  disproof 
defined 

of  an  assertion  (called  a  Proposition).     Arguments  are 

made  for  the  purpose  of  convincing  others. 

EXAMPLE.  —  Burke  gives  the  following  reasons,  arguments,  to 
prove  that  force  is  "  a  feeble  instrument "  for  preserving  America :  — 

I.  First,  Sir,  permit  me  to  observe  that  the  use  of  force  alone  is 
but  temporary. 

II.  My  next  objection  is  its  uncertainty. 

III.  A  further  objection  to  force  is  that  you  impair  the  object  by 
your  very  endeavor  to  preserve  it. 

1  MacEwan's  '•  Essentials  of  Argumentation  "  (D.  C.  Heath  and  Com- 
pany) and  Baker's  u  Principles  of  Argumentation  "  (Ginn  and  Company) 
are  useful  for  reference. 

234 


ARGUMENTATION  235 

IV.  Lastly,  we  have  no  sort  of  experience  in  favor  of  force  as  an 
instrument  in  the  rule  of  our  colonies.1 

EXERCISE 

Discuss  the  following  argumentative  paragraphs.  They  were 
written  as  preparation  for  more  formal  work.  Make  a  list  of 
the  arguments  advanced  in  i  and  in  2  ;  add  others  which 
occur  to  you. 

Proposition  :  Psyche's  child  Aglaia  is  the  heroine  of  "  The 
Princess." 

1 .  Is  Psyche's  child   the   heroine  of  "  The   Princess "  ?     Some 
hold  that  this  is  the  case,  but  according  to  most  theories  a  heroine 
is  the  centre  of  interest  round  which   other  things   revolve  —  all 
relating  to  her,  or  in  some  way  intensifying  her  characteristics.     It 
is  true  that  Psyche's  child  has  a  prominent  place  in  the  poem,  and 
is  continually  referred  to  ;  but  that  does  not  make  her  the  heroine, 
for  each  time  that  she  is  spoken  of,  some  mention  of  the  Princess  is 
sure  to  follow,  and  the  child  is  thus  made  the  signpost  to  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Princess.     It  is  the  Princess  of  whom  the  beautiful  de- 
scriptions are  given  and  it  is  the  Princess  around  whom  the  fine  web 
of  the  story  is  spun.     At  the  very  beginning,  the  Princess  is  defi- 
nitely placed  in  her  position  of  heroine  by  the  words, 

"  Take  Lilia  then  for  heroine,  clamored  he, 
And  make  her  sotne  great  Princess,  six  feet  high, 
Grand,  epic,  homicidal,  and  be  you  the  Prince  to  win  her." 

[What  is  the  strongest  argument  in  the  preceding  paragraph  ? 
Give  a  reason  for  your  answer.] 

2.  Who  is  the  heroine  of  "  The  Princess "  ?     Psyche's  child,  I 
think.     Whenever  the  story  nears  a  crisis,  the  child  makes  its  ap- 
pearance.    We  see  it  at  Ida's  feet,  when  she  sits  on  her  throne  of 
judgment.     In  the  height  of  her  anger  it  cries,  and  her  wrath  is 
checked.     When  Ida  sings  her  song  of  triumph  from   the  battle- 
ments, the  child  is  in  her  arms  ;  she  carries  it  with  her  to  the  scene 

1  "  Conciliation  with  the  Colonies." 


236 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


of  the  fight.     Through  it,  Cyril  pleads  Psyche's  cause  with  Ida,  and 
by  its  influence  the  heart  of  the  Princess  is  at  last  softened. 

The  songs  also  make  one  think  the  child  is  the  heroine.  In  the 
first,  the  sight  of  the  little  grave  is  the  signal  for  reconciliation ;  the 
second  is  a  cradle  song ;  while  in  another,  when  all  else  fails,  her 
boy's  face  brings  to  a  mother  the  relief  of  tears. 

"  O  fatal  babe,"  says  Mr.  Dawson,  in  an  introduction  to  "  The 
Princess,"  "  more  fatal  to  the  hopes  of  woman  than  the  doomful  horse 
to  the  proud  towers  of  Ilion  ;  for  through  thee  the  walls  of  pride  are 
breached,  and  all  the  conquering  affections  flock  in." 


A  writer's 
purpose  his 
guide 

Purpose,  to 
prove 


Evidence 
necessary 
for  proof 


Proof :  the  Value  of  Evidence 

In  argumentation,  as  in  the  three  other  kinds  of  com- 
position, the  writer's  purpose  is  his  guide  in  the  selection 
of  material.  The  purpose  of  argumentation  is  to  prove 
something ;  hence,  he  who  argues  chooses  what  is  valu- 
able as  proof.  Evidence  must  be  collected  to  prove  a 
point ;  mere  assertion  is  likely  to  have  no  value.  One's 
own  opinion,  for  example,  is  worth  little,  unless  one  is  a 
recognized  authority  on  the  subject  under  discussion  ; 
but  statistics,  the  affirmation  of  an  expert  having  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  matter  under  consideration,  or 
other  equally  reliable  testimony  may  be  accepted  as 
evidence  tending  to  establish  the  truth  or  falsity  of  a 
proposition. 

EXERCISES 

I.  Which  of  the  two  following  paragraphs  is  the  more  valu- 
able as  evidence  ?  Give  a  reason  for  your  answer. 

i .  "  Were  a  congress  of  physicians  or  sanitary  surgeons  to  be 
questioned,"  says  an  authority,  "  they  would  doubtless  reply  that 
were  it  not  for  a  periodic  pause  as  often  as  one  day  in  seven,  the 


ARGUMENTATION  237 

vital  forces  of  a  modern  nation  would   be   perceptibly  diminished 
before  a  single  generation  had  run  by." 

2.  Theodore  Roosevelt  stated  recently  that,  as  a  result  of  honest 
enforcement,  the  work  of  the  magistrates  who  sat  on  Monday  in  the 
city  courts  for  the  trial  of  offenders  was  decreased  by  one-half.  Dr. 
Crafts  finds,  from  carefully  prepared  data,  that  where  Sunday-closing 
laws  do  not  exist  or  are  not  enforced,  far  more  crimes  are  committed 
on  Sunday  than  on  any  other  day  of  the  week ;  while  he  has  also 
found,  that  where  such  laws  do  exist  and  are  even  moderately  en- 
forced, there  are  fewer  crimes  on  Sunday  than  on  other  days. 

II.  Do  the  work  asked  for  in  i  and  2  and  in  one  other  of 
the  following  requirements  :  — 

1.  The  following  lines  are  about  Horatius,  the  Roman  patriot, 
as  he  swims  the  broad  Tiber  with  thirty  thousand  foes  on  the 
bank  behind  him.     What  do  you  infer  from  the  stanza  regard- 
ing the  character  of  Sextus,  —  a  Roman,  yet   an   enemy  of 
Rome,  —  and  that  of  Lars  Porsena,  a  leader  of  the  Etruscans 
seeking  to  attack  Rome?     Upon  what  evidence  do  you  base 
your  conclusions? 

"  Curse  on  him  ! "  quoth  false  Sextus  ; 

"  Will  not  the  villain  drown  ? 
But  for  this  stay,  ere  close  of  day 

We  should  have  sacked  the  town ! " 
"  Heaven  help  him  ! "  quoth  Lars  Porsena, 

"  And  bring  him  safe  to  shore ; 
For  such  a  gallant  feat  of  arms 

Was  never  seen  before." 1 

2.  From  the  asides  of  Trebonius  and  Brutus  infer  something 
regarding  the  character  of  each  man.     From  what  evidence  do 
you  draw  your  inferences? 

Ccesar.  What,  Trebonius! 

I  have  an  hour's  talk  in  store  for  you. 
Remember  that  you  call  on  me  to-day  : 
Be  near  me,  that  I  may  remember  you. 

1  Macaulay's  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome." 


238  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

Trebonius.    Caesar,  I  will :  —  {Aside)  and  so  near  will  I  be, 
That  your  best  friends  shall  wish  I  had  been  further. 

Ccesar.     Good  friends,  go  in,  and  taste  some  wine  with  me ; 
And  we,  like  friends,  will  straightway  go  together. 

Brutus     (Aside).   That  every  like  is  not  the  same,  O  Caesar, 
The  heart  of  Brutus  yearns  to  think  upon  ! l 

3.  Make  a  list  of  Lowell's  reasons  for  saying  :  — 

"  Earth  gets  its  price  for  what  earth  gives  us."  2 

The  reasons  that  Lowell  gives  constitute  evidence  tending 
to  prove  his  assertion. 

4.  Collect  evidence  from  "  Silas  Marner "  to  Kelp  support 
either  of  the  following  statements  :  — 

a.  Seed  brings  forth  a  crop  after  its  kind. 

b.  Where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be. 

• 
[Remember  that  a  few  specific  instances  that  accord  with  a 

general  statement  do  not  establish  that  statement.] 

5.  Toward  the  end  of  Chapter  vii,  "Silas  Marner,"  George 
Eliot  says:    "There  was  a  hot  debate  upon  this."     Write  a 
paragraph  in  which  you  present  argumentatively  the  side  of 
Mr.  Dowlas  or  that  of  Mr.  Macey. 

The  Proposition :  Exposition  in  Argumentation 

Proposition  The  statement  to  be  proved  or  disproved  is  called  the 
Proposition.  The  proposition  should  have  the  form  of 
a  statement,  not  that  of  an  inquiry. 

Make  dear        It  is  useless  to  argue  a  proposition  until  its  meaning 

the  mean-       .        , 

ing  of  the  is  clear  to  both  writer  and  reader  —  or  to  speaker  and 
hearer ;  frequently,  therefore,  it  is  natural  to  open 

1  Shakespeare's  "  Julius  Cassar,"  Act  ii,  Scene  ii. 

2  "The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  Part  i,  Prelude.     See  page  130. 


ARGUMENTATION  239 

one's  argument  with  an  expository  paragraph  that  de-  Argument 
fines  and  explains  the  terms  used  in  the  proposition.1        with  expo1-8 

sition 
EXERCISES 

I.  What  proposition  is  contained  in  the  following  sentence 
and  what  evidence  is  advanced  to  prove  the  proposition? 

"  Mankind  in  the  aggregate  is  always  wiser  than  any  single  man, 
because  its  experience  is  derived  from  a  larger  range  of  observation 
and  experience,  and  because  the  springs  that  feed  it  drain  a  wider 
region  both  of  time  and  space." 

II.  Write  not  more  than  three  paragraphs  about  one  propo- 
sition in  the  following  list.     Try  to  make  the  work  brief,  but 
clear,  strong,  and  convincing.      Select  a  subject  about  which 
you  actually  believe  and  feel  something. 

Remember :  — 

1.  That  the  purpose  of  argumentation  is  to  prove  something. 

2.  That  one  must  collect  evidence  to  establish  proof. 

3.  That  a  knowledge  of  exposition  should  help  one  to  define 
and  explain. 

[A  method  of  development  frequently  used  in  the  argumen- 
tative paragraph  is  :  statement  of  proposition  in  a  topic  sen- 
tence ;  presentation  of  arguments  to  establish  the  truth  of  the 
proposition  ;  restatement  of  proposition  as  a  conclusion.] 

1  The  Harvard-Princeton  debaters,  in  their  contest  of  March  28,  1905, 
thus  defined  their  proposition  :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  free  elective  system  is  the  best  available  plan  for  the 
undergraduate  course  of  study. 

It  is  understood  that 

1.  The  Free  Elective  System  is  one  based  on  the  principle  that  each 
student  should  select  for  himself  all  his  studies  throughout  his  college 
course. 

2.  The  Free  Elective  System,  thus  defined,  exists  even  when  a  minor 
part  of  the  studies  of  the  freshman  year  is  prescribed. 


240  PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 

List  of  Propositions 

1.  Animals  afford  reliable  weather  signs. 

2.  The  work  of  helping  the  world  forward  does  not  wait  to  be 
done  by  perfect  men. 

3.  (Refer  to  "  The  Sir  Roger  De  Coverley  Papers.") 

a.  The  abuses  of  Sir  Roger's  day  are  the  abuses  of  our  own 

time. 

b.  The  title  knight  is  a  fitting  one  for  Sir  Roger. 

[A  method  of  paragraph  development :  First,  by  means  of  expo- 
sition, make  clear  the  meaning  of  knight ;  then  show  the  kind  of 
character  possessed  by  Sir  Roger  ;  finally,  draw  a  conclusion.] 

4.  Universal  history  is  the  history  of  great  men  and  their  work. 

5.  The  qualifications  for  the  right  of  suffrage  in  the  United  States 
should  be  — 

[Complete  the  preceding  proposition  in  accordance  with  your 
own  belief.] 

6.  The  history  of  the  apple-tree  is  connected  with  that  of  man. 

7.  (Refer  to  Tennyson's  "The  Princess.") 
Ida's  apparent  obstinacy  originated  in  generosity. 

8.  An  important  lesson  to  be  learned  in  life  is  the  art  of  econo- 
mizing time. 

9.  (Refer  to  De  Quincey's  "Joan  of  Arc.") 

a.  The  use  of  a  good  many  French  words  in  De  Quincey's 

"  Joan  of  Arc  "  is  allowable. 

b.  De  Quincey  keeps  his  reader's  thought  on  Joan  of  Arc  her- 

self rather  than  on  her  deeds. 

10.  Vivisection  should  be  prohibited  by  law. 

1 1 .  (Refer  to  "  Silas  Marner.") 

a.  The  villagers  of  Raveloe  were  superstitious. 
[First,  define  superstitious. ~\ 

b.  Dunsey's  so-called  luck  was,  in  truth,  ill-luck. 

[If  the  terms  used  in  b  be  defined  and  explained,  little  more  will 
remain  to  be  done.] 

c.  The  visit  to  Lantern  Yard  is  distracting  and  harmful  to 

the  unity  of  the  story. 

d.  The  visit  to  Lantern  Yard  helps  to  preserve  the  unity  of 

the  book. 


ARGUMENTATION  241 

The  Value  of  Illustration  and  Example 
EXERCISES 

I.  Find  in  "Silas  Marner,"  "The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  or 
elsewhere,  an  illustration  or  example  in  support  of  one  of  the 
following  statements  :  — 

1.  "Reverent  love  has  a  politeness  of  its  own." 

2.  "No  disposition  is  a  security  from  evil  wishes  to  a  man  whose 
happiness  hangs  on  duplicity." 

3.  "The  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare." 

II.  Write  a  paragraph  to  show  the  truth  of  i,  2,  or  3,  under 
I.    Utilize  the  illustration  found  in  answer  to  requirement  I. 

The  preceding  exercise  called  for  the  finding  of  an  illustration 
illustration  to  support  a  statement.     It  is  necessary  to  sariiy'proof 
realize  that  one  such  example,  though  it  be  helpful  as 
an  illustration,  may  not  prove  anything  in  itself ;  it  may 
even  be  an  exception.     Moreover,  if  an. instance  is  used 
as  proof,  the  conditions  it  represents  should  have  re-  The  kind  of 

.  ,      .  illustration 

suited  in  such  a  way  as  to  support  what  one  desires  to  to  choose 
prove.     Furthermore,  the  result  of  its  conditions  should 
be  less  likely  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  one's  point 
than  the  result   of   the   conditions  represented  in  the 
argument  itself. 

EXAMPLE.  —  Or  what  man  is  there  of  you,  whom  if  his  son  asks 
bread,  will  he  give  him  a  stone  ? 

Or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will  he  give  him  a  serpent  ? 

If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven  give 
good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him  ? 

[The  less  promising  set  of  conditions  described  in  the  example  — 
the  human  —  result  in  good;  the  more  promising  but  otherwise 
similar  set  —  the  divine  —  may  therefore  be  trusted.] 


242 


PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 


Analogy 
defined 


Analogy 
seldom 
furnishes 
argument 


Analogy 
useful  in 
exposition 


The  use  of 
particular 
instances 
as  proof 


The  Value  of  Analogy 

The  word  Analogy  means  likeness.  One  may  reason 
from  analogy;  that  is,  one  may  infer,  from  the  likenesses 
known  in  two  or  more  things,  that  some  other  likeness 
exists.  But  inference  is  not  argument.  To  get  argu- 
ment from  analogy  (similarity),  the  sets  of  happenings 
one  uses,  as  well  as  the  conditions  in  which  they  take 

place,  must  be  alike. 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

I.  Because  to-day  you  are  stung  by  a  bee,  as  your  fingers  close 
over  it  in  attempting  to  pluck  a  flower,  do  not  argue  that,  whenever 
you  attempt  to  pluck  that  flower,  you  will  be  stung  by  a  bee.     A 
bee  is  not  always  on,  or  near,  the  flower.     (Conditions  unlike.) 

II.  Toward  the  end  of  Chapter  vi,  "  Silas  Marner,"  George  Eliot 
says :  "  The  landlord's  analogical  argument  was  not  well  received  by 
the  farrier."     The  preceding  paragraph  of  the  chapter  contains  the 
analogical   argument :    Because   the    landlord's   wife   cannot  smell 
cheese,  some  persons  cannot  see  ghosts  !     (Conditions  and  happen- 
ings unlike.) 

Though  seldom  useful  as  argument,  analogy  may  be 
valuable  in  making  a  meaning  clear. 

EXAMPLE. — Fresh  as  the  first  beam  glittering  on  a  sail, 

That  brings  our  friends  up  from  the  underworld, 
Sad  as  the  last  which  reddens  over  one 
That  sinks  with  all  we  love  below  the  verge ; 
So  sad,  so  fresh,  the  days  that  are  no  more. 

ALFRED  TENNYSON:  "The  Princess,"  Part  iv. 

Particular  Instances  as  Proof 

A  number  of  particular  instances  may  be  brought  for- 
ward to  prove  a  general  statement.  For  example,  if  one 
were  to  see  grain  in  the  fields  bending  westward,  and 


ARGUMENTATION  243 

the  lower  clouds  floating  in  the  same  direction ;  if  one 
were  to  moisten  a  finger,  hold  it  up,  and  feel  the  air 
blow  on  the  part  toward  the  east ;  if  one  were  to  see  the 
surface  of  a  pond  ruffled  from  the  east  and  all  weather- 
cocks pointing  in  that  direction,  one  might  reason  from 
these  particulars  and  make  the  statement :  The  wind 
blows  from  the  east. 

One  should  not  induce  too  much  from  a  particular  or  cite  a 

sufficient 

a  set  of  particulars.     In  order  to  establish  proof,  one  number  of 

...  .  particulars 

must,  usually,  give  numerous  or  very  convincing  exam- 
ples, so  that  one's  statement  is  safely  supported.  For 
instance,  a  weathercock  might  be  out  of  order,  and  from 
it  alone  one  could  not  rightfully  draw  the  conclusion 
that  the  wind  blew  from  a  given  direction  ;  grain  might 
bend  westward  because  the  prevailing  wind  had  been 
from  the  east,  though  the  wind  at  the  time  mentioned 
might  come  from  some  other  quarter ;  but  from  all  the 
facts  enumerated  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  one  might, 
with  confidence,  draw  the  conclusion :  The  wind  blows 

from  the  east. 

i 

EXERCISES 
Choose  either  I  or  II. 

I.  Make  a  list  of  particulars  to  support  i,  or  2,  or  6,  page 
240  (List  of  Propositions). 

II.  Make  a  list  of  particulars  from  "  The  Vision  of  Sir  Laun- 
fal,"  Part  i,  Prelude,  to  support  each  of  the  statements  :  — 

1.  Then  [in  June],  if  ever,  come  perfect  days. 

2.  Not  only  around  our  infancy 

Doth  heaven  with  all  its  splendors  lie. 


244  PRINCIPLES  OF   RHETORIC 

Utilization  of  a  True  General  Statement 

A  way  to  One  may  sometimes  prove  that  a  particular  instance 
particular  should  be  classed  under  a  general  statement  known  to 
be  true.  Refer  to  the  method  of  treatment  suggested 
for  the  third  subject  on  page  240.  First,  the  writer 
considers  what  qualities  the  knight  in  general  possesses; 
then  he  shows  that  Sir  Roger  does,  or  does  not,  have 
those  qualities ;  finally,  he  draws  the  conclusion  that  has 
become  obvious. 

EXERCISE 

Write  a  paragraph  that  tends  to  prove  or  disprove  one  of  the 
following  statements.  Note  the  suggestions  for  paragraph 
development. 

I.  A  law  for  the  protection  of  the  health  of  a  community  is 
consistent  with  liberty. 

[First,  make  a  general  statement  —  assumed  to  be  true  —  show- 
ing what  a  thing  consistent  with  liberty  must  be  or  must  have ;  then 
show  that  a  law  for  the  protection  of  health  does,  or  does  not,  meet 
the  described  requirements ;  finally,  draw  the  conclusion.] 

II.  Inaction  on  the  part  of  America  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war  between  Spain  and  Cuba  would  not  have  been  detrimental 
to  her  in  effect  or  in  opinion. 

[First,  assume  the  following  general  statement  to  be  true  :  "  Great 
and  acknowledged  force  is  not  impaired,  either  in  effect  or  in  opin- 
ion, by  an  unwillingness  to  exert  itself";  next,  prove  that  America 
ranks  with  the  great  and  acknowledged  forces  among  nations  ;  finally, 
draw  the  conclusion  that  will  have  become  evident.] 

III.  It  is  incumbent  upon  -    -  to  observe  the  conditions 
of  the  treaty  of . 

[Fill  the  blanks  to  suit  yourself;  write  of  that  treaty  about  which 
you  know  the  most.  Make  use  of  the  general  statement :  "  A  treaty 
is  the  promise  of  peoples."] 


ARGUMENTATION  245 

IV.  The  two  hostile  factions  in  our  basketball  club  must 
become  reconciled,  or  the  club  will  cease  to  exist. 

[Make  use.  of  the  general  statement:  "A  house  divided  against 
itself  cannot  stand.'1] 

The  Value  of  Concrete  Instances  in  Argumentation 
A  single  concrete  instance  that  violates  a  general  state-  concrete 
ment  furnishes  evidence  against   it  and    is,  therefore,  as  proof 
useful  in  disproving  the  statement.    Socrates,  in  his  often- 
quoted  discussion  with  Euthydemus,  convinced  the  latter 
of  the  falseness  of  his  conception  of  justice,  not  by  argu- 
ing at  length  against  the  definition  of  Euthydemus,  but 
by  bringing  up  one  or  two  cases  of    evident   injustice 
which  fell  within  the  definition  and  one  or  two  obviously 
just  cases  that  fell  without  the  definition. 

Debating  1 

A  debate  is  somewhat  formal  work  in  argumentation.  Debate 
It  gives  arguments  on  both  sides  of  a  question. 

In  a  debate,  each  side  not  only  presents  direct  proof,  Refutation 
but  seeks  to  disprove  —  refute,  or  rebut  —  what  the  other 
side  advances  as  proof. 

ILLUSTRATION 

Fisher  Ames,  in  his  speech  on  "  The  British  Treaty,"  anticipated 
and  refuted  opposition  in  the  following  paragraph  :  — 

It  is  vain  to  offer  as  an  excuse,  that  public  men  are  not  to  be 
reproached  for  the  evils  that  may  happen  to  ensue  from  their  meas- 

1  Mac  Ewan's  "  Essentials  of  Argumentation  "  (D.  C.  Heath  and  Com- 
pany) and  Alden's  "  The  Art  of  Debate  "  (Henry  Holt  and  Company)  are 
useful  for  reference. 


246 


PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 


ures.  This  is  very  true  where  the  evils  are  unforeseen  or  inevitable. 
Those  I  have  depicted  are  not  unforeseen ;  they  are  so  far  from 
inevitable  that  we  are  going  to  bring  them  into  being  by  our  vote. 
We  choose  the  consequences,  and  become  as  justly  answerable  for 
them  as  for  the  measures  that  we  know  will  produce  them. 

[Note  the  paragraph  development :  in  his  first  sentence,  Mr. 
Ames  states  an  excuse  that  may  be  offered  by  his  opponents  and 
then  refutes  that  excuse.] 

EXERCISE 

(Refer  to  the  following  quoted  paragraph.) 

I.  What  argument  is  it  that  Burke  foresees  may  be  used 
against  him  ? 

II.  How  does  Burke  refute  the  argument  that  he  antici- 
pates ? 

"  Sir,  I  can  perceive  by  their  manner  that  some  gentlemen  object 
to  the  latitude  of  this  description,  because  in  the  Southern  Colonies 
the  Church  of  England  forms  a  large  body  and  has  a  regular  estab- 
lishment. It  is  certainly  true.  There  is,  however,  a  circumstance 
attending  these  colonies  which,  in  my  opinion,  fully  counterbalances 
this  difference  and  makes  the  spirit  of  liberty  still  more  high  and 
haughty  than  in  those  to  the  northward.  It  is,  that  in  Virginia  and 
the  Carolinas  they  have  a  vast  multitude  of  slaves.  Where  this  is 
the  case  in  any  part  of  the  world,  those  who  are  free  are  by  far  the 
most  proud  and  jealous  of  their  freedom." 


The  Question  (Proposition) 

Question  For  debate,  a  proposition  should  be  chosen  regarding 

debatable     the  truth  of  which  reasonable  men  may  differ.     Such  a 

question  gives  each  side  a  fair  chance  in  the  argument. 
Question  The  statement  of  the  question  to  be  debated  should, 

declarative    preferably,  be  declarative  in  form,  and  should  not  offer 

alternatives. 


ARGUMENTATION  247 

EXERCISES 

I.  State   the   following  proposition   declaratively :    Is    the 
United  States  right  in  trying  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  China? 

II.  From  the  following  proposition,  make  one  that  will  be 
declarative  and  will  not  offer  alternatives  :  Should  manual  train- 
ing be  introduced  into  all  high  schools  or  should  those  schools 
devote  themselves  merely  to  the  meeting  of  college  require- 
ments ? 

Duties  of  the  Individual  Debater 

The  individual  debater  must,  first  of  all,  know  what  he  Three 
is  to  do.  He  should  be  sure  of  three  things:  (i)  what 
the  proposition  to  be  debated  means;  (2)  what  his  side 
is  to  prove,  if  possible,  and  what  his  opponents  will  try 
to  establish ;  (3)  what  his  own  part  in  the  work  is. 

If  his  side  upholds  the  affirmative  of  the  question,  it  General 
must  prove  the  truth  of  the  proposition,  for  usually  the  baity  of 
responsibility  of  proving  —  the   "burden  of  proof"     •  Parties°to 
rests  with   the   affirmative.     If   he   and   his  associates  thedebate 
represent  the  negative  side  of  the  question,  their  chief 
duty  is  to  break  down  the  evidence  of  the  affirmative, 
though   they   may   also  advance  arguments  to  support 
their  own  position.     His  own  especial  duty  is  to  know  special 
all  that  he  can  about  both  sides  of  the  question,  under-  individual 
stand  just  what  part  of  the  team  work  he  is  to  do,  make 
a  careful  plan  (called  a  brief  *)  for  his  guidance,  and 
have  convincing  evidence  to  support  each  of  his  points. 

The   debater  should  study  his  proposition,  discover 

1  Lament's  edition  of  Burke's  "Conciliation  with  the  Colonies"  (Ginn 
and  Company)  contains  an  admirable  brief  in  its  introduction,  pages  Ivii- 
Ixiv. 


248  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

sugges         what  truth  most  needs  proving,  and  try  to  prove  that. 

tions  to  the  .... 

individual  He  should  ascertain,  by  investigating  the  question,  what 
is  the  strongest  evidence  for  the  other  side,  and  be  ready 
to  refute  that.  He  should  work  confidently,  but  should 
overrate,  rather  than  underrate,  his  opponents  and  their 
opportunities. 

The  Time  for  Refutation 

It  is  impossible  to  state,  in  general,  when  refutation 
should  be  made.     A  debater  must  use  his  judgment.     If 
his  opponents  evidently  have  scored  a  point  with  audi- 
ence and  judges,  it  may  be  well  to  refute  that  point  at 
The  formal    the  earliest  opportunity.     The  final  speaker  for  each 

rebuttal 

side  usually  gives  a  somewhat  comprehensive  rebuttal. 
Value  of  Persuasion 

use  persua-       The  debater  seeks  not  only  to  win  belief,  but  also  to 

sion  as  well 

asargu-  affect  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  and  perhaps  rouse  them 
to  action.  Therefore,  his  arguments  should  be  so  pre- 
sented that  those  who  listen  will  be  moved  by  his  own 
conviction  and  feeling.  A  direct  appeal  to  the  emotions 
may  sometimes  be  made,  especially  as  a  climax  and 

conclusion. 

ILLUSTRATION 

And  now,  Mr.  President,  ...  let  us  devote  ourselves  to  those 
great  objects  that  are  fit  for  our  consideration  and  our  action ;  let  us 
raise  our  conceptions  to  the  magnitude  and  the  importance  of  the 
duties  that  devolve  upon  us ;  let  our  comprehension  be  as  broad  as 
the  country  for  which  we  act,  our  aspirations  as  high  as  its  certain 
destiny ;  let  us  not  be  pigmies  in  a  case  that  calls  for  men.  Never 
did  there  devolve  on  any  generation  of  men  higher  trusts  than  now 
devolve  upon  us,  for  the  preservation  of  this  Constitution  and  the 


ARGUMENTATION  249 

harmony  and  peace  of  all  who  are  destined  to  live  under  it.  Let  us 
make  our  generation  one  of  the  strongest  and  brightest  links  in  that 
golden  chain  which  is  destined,  I  fondly  believe,  to  grapple  the  peo- 
ple of  all  the  States  to  this  Constitution  for  ages  to  come.  We  have 
a  great,  popular,  constitutional  government,  guarded  by  law  and  by 
judicature,  and  defended  by  the  affections  of  the  whole  people.  No 
monarchical  throne  presses  these  States  together,  no  iron  chain  of 
military  power  encircles  them  ;  they  live  and  stand  under  a  govern- 
ment popular  in  its  form,  representative  in  its  character,  founded 
upon  principles  of  equality,  and  so  constructed,  we  hope,  as  to  last 
forever.  DANIEL  WEBSTER:  " The  Constitution  and  the  Union." 

To  gain  practice  in  making  an  appeal  and  to  acquire 
power  in  persuading,  it  is  well  frequently  to  choose  but 
a  single  point  for  presentation,  and  so  treat  it  that  who- 
ever hears  it  not  only  will  be  convinced,  but  will  be 
roused  to  sympathy  and  consequent  action. 

Remember  that  real  conviction   and  feeling,  simply  caution 
but  strongly  expressed,  appeal  to  one's  hearers,  while 
"fine    writing"  (page    76,  VII)    may    not    even    gain 
attention. 

EXERCISE 

Write  the  final  argumentative  paragraph  for  a  composition 
on  one  of  the  following  subjects ;  make  an  appeal,  seek  to 
persuade  your  hearers  :  — 

I.  The   desirability   of  obtaining    a   suitable   home  where 
groups  of  children  from  the  city  tenements  may  have  a  summer 
outing. 

II.  Let  the  boys  and  girls  have  the  freedom  of  the  village 
common,  of  the  city  park,  or  of  the  lake. 

III.  Our  Alma  Mater. 

[Consider  III  to  be  a  toast.  Write  only  the  closing  paragraph 
of  a  response  to  the  toast ;  make  that  paragraph  an  appeal  to  the 
loyalty  of  your  fellow-graduates.  Seek  by  your  appeal  to  rouse 


250  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

interest  that  will  lead  to  the  building  of  a  gymnasium  or  assembly- 
hall,  or  to  the  raising  of  an  endowment  fund.] 

IV.  Take  some  action  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  our 
woodlands. 

V.  Insist  that  the  law  against  the  use  of  soft  coal  in  our  city 
.be  enforced. 

The  Speech 

Thorough         Although  his  work  should  be  carefully  planned,  the 
an^aiumt1  successful   debater   is   not   too   rigid.      If   he  depends 
brief  "better  altogether  upon  a  written  speech  that  he  has  committed 
Teech         to  memory>  ne  may,  as  the  debate  develops,  find  him- 
committed    seif  unable  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  changing 
situation.     His  opponents   are  always  to  be  reckoned 
with,  and  they  do  unexpected  things.     If,  however,  the 
debater  has  gained  much  information  from  observation, 
discussion,  books,   and  thought ;    has  an  outline  in  his 
mind,  from  which   he  has  constructed  and  delivered  to 
himself  many  a  speech ;  and  has  a  realization  that  con- 
ciseness is  necessary,  that  he  has  little  time  and  should 
use  it  to  advantage,  —  then  he  is  likely  to  do  his  best, 
style  in  the       Plain  words  and  a  clear  construction  are  essential  in 
debating.     If,  however,  a  writer  is  in  earnest  and  feels 
what  he  says,  his  work  is  likely  to  have  life.    Eloquence 
is  not  a  matter  of  mere  words,  but  of  words  vibrating 
with  the  thought  they  carry. 

Judging  the  Debate 

The  out-  The  duty  of  the  judges  is  not  to  decide  whether  the 

debate         proposition  is.  true  or  false,  not  to  decide  whether  they 


ARGUMENTATION  251 

themselves  agree  with   one  side  or  the  other,  but   to 
determine  which  side  has  made  the   better  argument. 

Classroom  Debates 
A  class  is  a  debating  society ;  in  a  classroom,  ques-  value  of 

,  ,     .  i     i      r  formal  work 

tions   are    always    being    propounded    for    explanation  m  debating 
(exposition)  and  discussion  (argument).     Informal  class 
discussions  will  gain  much  in  ease,  dignity,  and  force, 
if  some  formal  work  in  debating  be  undertaken. 

EXERCISES 

I.    Discuss  the  following  work  :  — 

i.  Proposition.  —  For  the  welfare  of  the  country,  the  United 
States  should  end  the  present  coal  strike l  by  compelling  im- 
mediate arbitration. 

a.   AN  INTRODUCTORY  PARAGRAPH 

We  of  the  affirmative  wish  to  prove  to  you  that  a  settlement  of 
the  present  coal  strike  should  be  made  compulsory.  My  colleagues 
will  show  that  the  strike  is  so  great  a  detriment  to  the  miners  them- 
selves, to  the  operators,  and  to  the  general  public  that  it  has  become 
a  national  disaster  and  should  be  met  by  legislative  action.  I  will 
open  the  debate  by  giving  a  brief  account  of  the  work  at  the  mines, 
the  hours,  the  pay,  the  employees,  and  the  demands  of  the  strikers. 

b.   ON  THE  PRECEDING  PROPOSITION 

HONORABLE  JUDGES  AND  CLASSMATES:  It  is  my  endeavor  to 
show  :  first,  that  compulsory  arbitration  of  this  strike  by  the  United 
States  is  impossible ;  and  second,  that,  were  it  possible,  under  the 
existing  conditions  it  is  so  impracticable  as  to  be  useless. 

The  government  could  not  settle  this  strike  by  compulsory  arbi- 
tration, because  there  is  no  national  compulsory  arbitration  law,  and 

1  The  strike  of  1903-1904  in  the  Pennsylvania  coal  fields. 


PRINCIPLES    OF    RHETORIC 


any  such  law  passed  now  could  apply  only  to  future  strikes,  for,  if.  it 
were  applied  to  this  strike,  it  would  be  an  ex  post  facto  law,  such  as 
the  Constitution  forbids  Congress  to  pass.  This  one  fact  is  enough 
to  decide  the  question.  But  even  if  this  were  not  true,  the  govern- 
ment would  have  no  right  to  interfere,  because  it  is  in  the  power  of 
the  state  of  Pennsylvania  to  end  the  trouble.  My  colleague  has 
described  three  different  ways  by  which  the  Pennsylvania  legislature 
could  end  the  deadlock.  None  of  them  has  been  tried.  Until  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania  has  exhausted  its  last  resource,  the  national 
government  has  no  right  to  step  in ;  for,  however  desirable  to  the 
country  at  large  interference  might  be,  the  entire  business  is  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  remains  so  until 
the  national  government  is  appealed  to  by  that  state  government. 

[  The  speakers  quoted  in  i  and  2  follow  one  method :  they 
take  the  audience  into  their  confidence  by  outlining  their  plan. 
While  it  is  often  desirable  to  do  this,  it  is  not  always  necessary. 
One  might  prefer  to  surprise  his  audience.] 

2.   A  paragraph  of  appeal. 

Finally,  mothers,  I  appeal  to  you.  In  July  and  August,  when  the 
sun  scorches  the  city,  when  you  take  your  own  children  to  wind- 
blown fields  and  shore,  will  you  not  remember  the  children  of  the 
city  streets  ?  Their  joyless  lives  are  rendered  yet  more  intolerable 
by  sun-baked  brick  walls  and  impure  air.  Your  mite  may  mean  life 
to  one  or  more  of  them.  Will  you  not  help  them  ?  "  Inasmuch  as 
ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least  of  these,  My  little  ones,  ye  have  done 
it  unto  Me." 

II.  Note  the  carefulness  with  which  every  assertion  in  the  fol- 
lowing quotations,  whether  serious  or  humorous,  is  upheld  by 
evidence  :  — 

a  i.  In  all  these  external  respects  his  case  was  .  .  .  very  far 
from  the  hardest.  Poverty,  incessant  drudgery,  and  much  worse 
evils,  it  has  often  been  the  lot  of  Poets  and  wise  men  to  strive  with, 
and  their  glory  to  conquer.  Locke  was  banished  as  a  traitor ;  and 
wrote  his  "Essay  on  the  Human  Understanding"  sheltering  him- 
self in  a  Dutch  garret.  Was  Milton  rich  or  at  his  ease  when  he 


ARGUMENTATION 


253 


composed   "  Paradise    Lost "  ?     Not   only   low,  but   fallen   from   a   Evidence 
height :   not  only  poor,  but  impoverished ;    in  darkness  and  with 
dangers  compassed  round,  he  sang  his  immortal  song,  and  found 
fit  audience,   though   few.     Did   not    Cervantes   finish    his  work,  a   Evidence 
maimed  soldier  and  in  prison  ?     Nay,  was   not  the  "  Araucana," 
which  Spain  acknowledges  as  its  Epic,  written  without  even  the  aid 
of  paper;    on  scraps  of  leather,  as  the  stout  fighter  and  voyager 
snatched  any  moment  from  that  wild  warfare  ? 

2.  Still,  we  do  not  think  that  the  blame  of  Burns's  failure  lies   Propositio 
chiefly  with  the  world.     The  world,  it  seems  to  us,  treated  him  with    Proof 
more  rather  than  with  less  kindness  than  it  usually  shows  to  such 

men.     It  has  ever,  we  fear,  shown  but  small  favor  to  its  Teachers : 

hunger  and  nakedness,  perils  and  revilings,  the  prison,  the  cross, 

the   poison-chalice   have,  in   most   times   and   countries,  been  the 

market-price  it  has  offered  for  Wisdom,  the  welcome  with  which  it 

has  greeted  those  who  have  come  to  enlighten  and  purify.     Homer  Evidence 

and  Socrates,  and  the  Christian  Apostles,  belong  to  old  days ;  but 

the  world's   Martyrology  was   not   completed  with   these.     Roger   Evidence 

Bacon  and  Galileo  languish  in  priestly  dungeons ;   Tasso  pines  in 

the  cell  of  a  madhouse ;  Camoens  dies  begging  on  the  streets  of    Evidence 

Lisbon.     So  neglected,  so  "  persecuted  they  the  Prophets,"  not  in 

Judea  only,  but  in  all  places  where  men  have  been.     We  reckon 

that  every  poet  of  Burns's  order  is,  or  should  be,  a  prophet  and 

teacher  to  his  age ;  that  he  has  no  right  to  expect  great  kindness 

from  it,  but  rather  is  bound  to  do  it  great  kindness ;  that  Burns,  in 

particular,  experienced   fully  the   usual   proportion  of  the  world's 

goodness ;  and  that  the  blame  of  his  failure,  as  we  have  said,  lies 

not  chiefly  with  the  world. 

3.  Let  it  not  be  objected  that  he  did  little.     He  did  much,  if    Proposition 
we  consider  where  and  how.     If  the  work  performed  was  small,  we   Proof 
must  remember  that  he  had  his  very  materials  to  discover;  for  the 

metal  he  worked  in  lay  hid  under  the  desert  moor,  where  no  eye  but   Evidence 
his  had  guessed  its  existence ;  and  we  may  almost  say,  that  with  his   Proof 
own  hand  he  had  to  construct  the  tools  for  fashioning  it.     For  he 
found  himself  in  deepest  obscurity,  without  help,  without  instruc-   Evidence 
tion,  without  model ;  or  with  models  only  of  the  meanest  sort. 

THOMAS  CARLYLE:  "Essay  on  Burns." 


254 


PRINCIPLES   OF  RHETORIC 


[On  pages  107  and  108,  of  Anderson's  "  A  Study  of  English 
Words"  (The  American  Book  Company),  is  an  illustration  of 
Carlyle's  use  of  synonyms  as  a  basis  for  argument,  and  of  Matthew 
Arnold's  careful  choice  of  words  in  argument.] 

b  i.  There  is  a  mother-idea  in  each  particular  kind  of  tree, 
which,  if  well  marked,  is  probably  embodied  in  the  poetry  of  every 
language.  Take  the  oak,  for  instance,  and  we  find  it  always  stand- 
ing as  a  type  of  strength  and  endurance.  I  wonder  if  you  ever 
thought  of  the  single  mark  of  supremacy  which  distinguishes  this 
tree  from  those  around  it  ?  The  others  shirk  the  work  of  resisting 
gravity ;  the  oak  defies  it.  It  chooses  the  horizontal  direction  for 
its  limbs,  so  that  their  whole  weight  may  tell,  —  and  then  stretches 
them  out  fifty  or  sixty  feet,  so  that  the  strain  may  be  mighty 
enough  to  be  worth  resisting.  You  will  find,  that,  in  passing  from 
the  extreme  downward  droop  of  the  branches  of  the  weeping-willow 
to  the  extreme  upward  inclination  of  those  of  the  poplar,  they  sweep 
nearly  half  a  circle.  At  90°  the  oak  stops  short ;  to  slant  upward 
another  degree  would  mark  infirmity  of  purpose ;  to  bend  down- 
ward, weakness  of  organization. 

2.  People  that  make  puns  are  like  wanton  boys  that  put  cop- 
pers on  the  railroad  tracks.  They  amuse  themselves  and  other 
children,  but  their  little  trick  may  upset  a  freight  train  of  conversa- 
tion for  the  sake  of  a  battered  witticism.  .  .  . 

The  great  moralist  says  :  "  To  trifle  with  the  vocabulary  which  is 
the  vehicle  of  social  intercourse  is  to  tamper  with  the  currency  of 
human  intelligence.  He  who  would  violate  the  sanctities  of  his 
mother  tongue  would  invade  the  recesses  of  the  paternal  till  without 
remorse,  and  repeat  the  banquet  of  Saturn  without  an  indigestion." 

And,  once  more,  listen  to  the  historian :  "  The  Puritans  hated 
puns.  The  Bishops  were  notoriously  addicted  to  them.  The  Lords 
Temporal  carried  them  to  the  verge  of  license.  Majesty  itself  must 
have  its  Royal  quibble.  '  Ye  be  burly,  my  Lord  of  Burleigh,'  said 
Queen  Elizabeth,  'but  ye  shall  make  less  stir  in  our  realm  than  my 
Lord  of  Leicester.'  ...  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  with  his  last  breath, 
reproached  the  soldier  who  brought  him  water  for  wasting  a  casque 
full  upon  a  dying  man.  .  .  .  The  fatal  habit  became  universal. 
The  language  was  corrupted.  The  infection  spread  to  the  national 


ARGUMENTATION  255 

conscience.  Political  double-dealings  naturally  grew  out  of  verbal 
double  meanings.  The  teeth  of  the  new  dragon  were  sown  by  the 
Cadmus,  who  introduced  the  alphabet  of  equivocation.  What  was 
levity  in  the  time  of  the  Tudors,  grew  to  regicide  and  revolution  in 
the  age  of  the  Stuarts." 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES  :  "  The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table." 

c.   The  poetry  of  Milton  differs  from  that  of  Dante  as  the  hiero-   Proposition 
glyphics  of  Egypt  differed  from  the  picture-writing  of  Mexico.     The 
images  which  Dante  employs   speak   for  themselves ;    they  stand   Proof 
simply  for  what  they  are.     Those  of  Milton  have  a  signification 
which    is    often    discernible    only   to   the   initiated.      Their  value 
depends  less  on  what  they  directly  represent  than  on  what  they 
remotely  suggest.     However  strange,  however  grotesque,  may  be 
the  -appearance   which    Dante    undertakes    to   describe,   he   never 
shrinks  from  describing  it.     He  gives  us  the  shape,  the  color,  the   Evidence 
sound,  the  smell,  the  taste ;  he  counts  the  numbers ;  he  measures 
the  size.     His  similes  are  the  illustrations  of  a  traveler.  .   .  . 

The  English  poet  has  never  thought  of  taking  the  measure  of  Evidence 
Satan.  He  gives  us  merely  a  vague  idea  of  vast  bulk.  In  one 
passage,  the  fiend  lies  stretched  out  huge  in  length,  floating  many  a 
rood,  equal  in  size  to  the  earth-born  enemies  of  Jove,  or  to  the 
sea-monster  which  the  mariner  mistakes  for  an  island.  When  he 
addresses  himself  to  battle  against  the  guardian  angels,  he  stands 
like  Teneriffe  or  Atlas  —  reaches  the  sky.  .  .  . 

THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY:  "Essay  on  Milton." 

[A  reference  to  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on  Milton "  will  show  that 
its  author  devotes  at  least  two  pages  to  the  giving  of  evidence  in 
support  of  the  proposition  quoted  above.] 

III.  Does  each  of  the  following  comparisons  furnish  a  basis 
for  argument  or  for  inference  (page  242)  ?  Give  a  reason  for 
your  answer.  Does  the  preceding  material  of  a  prove  its  con- 
cluding statement?  Do  the  second  and  third  sentences  of  b 
furnish  proof  for  the  statements  that  precede  and  follow  them  ? 

a.  Did  you  never,  in  walking  in  the  fields,  come  across  a  large 
flat  stone,  which  had  lain,  nobody  knows  how  long,  just  where  you 


256  PRINCIPLES    OF   RHETORIC 

found  it,  with  the  grass  forming  a  little  hedge,  as  it  were,  all  round 
it,  close  to  its  edges,  —  and  have  you  not,  in  obedience  to  a  kind  of 
feeling  that  told  you  it  had  been  lying  there  long  enough,  insinuated 
your  stick  or  your  foot  or  your  fingers  under  its  edge  and  turned  it 
over  as  a  housewife  turns  a  cake,  when  she  says  to  herself,  "  It's 
done  brown  enough  by  this  time  "  ?  What  an  odd  revelation,  and 
what  an  unforeseen  and  unpleasant  surprise  to  a  small  community, 
the  very  existence  of  which  you  had  not  suspected,  until  the  sudden 
dismay  and  scattering  among  its  members  produced  by  your  turning 
the  old  stone  over  !  Blades  of  grass  flattened  down,  colorless, 
matted  together,  as  if  they  had  been  bleached  and  ironed ;  hideous 
crawling  creatures,  some  of  them  coleopterous  or  horny-shelled, — 
turtle-bugs  one  wants  to  call  them,  some  of  them  softer,  but  cun- 
ningly spread  out  and  compressed  like  Lepine  watches  ;  black  glossy 
crickets,  with  their  long  filaments  sticking  out  like  the  whips  of  four- 
horse  stage  coaches ;  motionless,  slug-like  creatures,  young  larvae, 
perhaps  more  horrible  in  their  pulpy  stillness  than  even  in  the  in- 
fernal wriggle  of  maturity!  But  no  sooner  is  the  stone  turned  and 
the  wholesome  light  of  day  let  in  upon  this  compressed  and  blinded 
community  of  creeping  things,  than  all  of  them  which  enjoy  the 
luxury  of  legs  —  and  some  of  them  have  a  good  many  —  rush  round 
wildly,  butting  each  other  and  everything  in  their  way,  and  end  in  a 
general  stampede  for  underground  retreats  from  the  region  poisoned 
by  sunshine.  Next  year  you  will  find  the  grass  growing  tall  and 
green  where  the  stone  lay ;  the  ground-bird  builds  her  nest  where 
the  beetle  had  his  hole  ;  the  dandelion  and  the  buttercup  are  grow- 
ing there,  and  the  broad  fans  of  insect-angels  open  and  shut  over 
their  golden  disks,  as  the  rhythmic  waves  of  blissful  consciousness 
pulsate  through  their  glorified  being.  .  .  . 

There  is  meaning  in  each  of  those  images,  —  the  butterfly  as  well 
as  the  others.  The  stone  is  ancient  error.  The  grass  is  human 
nature  borne  down  and  bleached  of  all  its  color  by  it.  The  shapes 
which  are  found  beneath  are  the  crafty  beings  that  thrive  in  dark- 
ness, and  the  weaker  organisms  kept  helpless  by  it.  He  who  turns 
the  stone  over  is  whosoever  puts  the  staff  of  truth  to  the  old  lying 
incubus,  no  matter  whether  he  do  it  with  a  serious  face  or  a  laugh- 
ing one.  The  next  year  stands  for  the  coming  time.  Then  shall 


ARGUMENTATION  257 

the  nature  which  had  lain  blanched  and  broken  rise  in  its  full  stature 
and  native  hues  in  the  sunshine.  Then  shall  God's  minstrels  build 
their  nests  in  the  hearts  of  a  newborn  humanity.  Then  shall  beauty 
—  Divinity  taking  outlines  and  color  —  light  upon  the  souls  of  men 
as  the  butterfly,  image  of  the  beatified  spirit  rising  from  the  dust, 
soars  from  the  shell  that  held  a  poor  grub,  which  would  never  have 
found  wings  had  not  the  stone  been  lifted. 

You  never  need  think  you  can  turn  over  any  old  falsehood  with- 
out a  terrible  squirming  and  scattering  of  the  horrid  little  population 
that  dwells  under  it. 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES:  " The  Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast  Table." 

b.  There  is  only  one  cure  for  the  evils  which  newly  acquired 
freedom  produces :  and  that  cure  is  freedom.  When  a  prisoner 
first  leaves  his  cell  he  cannot  bear  the  light  of  day :  he  is  unable 
to  discriminate  colors,  or  recognize  faces.  But,  the  remedy  is,  not 
to  remand  him  into  his  dungeon,  but  to  accustom  him  to  the  rays  of 
the  sun.  The  blaze  of  truth  and  liberty  may  at  first  dazzle  and  be- 
wilder nations  which  have  become  half  blind  in  the  house  of  bond- 
age. But  let  them  gaze  on,  and  they  will  soon  be  able  to  bear  it. 

THOMAS  BABINGTON  MACAULAY  :  "  Essay  on  Milton." 

IV.  Write  out  the  clergyman's  argument  in  defence  of  the 
Spectator  in  "A  Meeting  of  the  Club  "  (  The  Sir  Roger  De  Cov- 
erley  Papers} .     Utilize  the  anecdote  that  Addison  tells,  or  sub- 
stitute another. 

[Although  anecdotes  prove  nothing,  yet,  if  appropriate  and  well 
told,  they  emphasize  points  that  have  been  made.] 

V.  Arrange   for   a   class   debate.      Most    libraries    contain 
Matson's    "  References    for    Literary   Workers,"   "  Briefs    for 
Debates,"  and    other   useful   material.      It   is   well   to   study 
speeches,  like   those  collected  in  "  Representative  American 
Orations  " 1  and  "  Representative  British  Orations,"  J  to  analyze 
them,  and  to  classify  their  parts,  as  the  parts  of  the  quotations 
on  pages  252,  253,  254,  255,  are  classified. 

1  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons. 


258  PRINCIPLES   OF   RHETORIC 

One  of  the  following  propositions  suggested  by  pupils  may 
prove  interesting  to  debate  :  — 

Resolved:  — 

1.  That  city  sidewalks  should  be  taken  care  of  by  the  city  rather 
than  by  householders. 

2.  That  a  charge  account  at  a  store  leads  to  extravagance  in  the 
average  household. 

3.  That  colleges  should  not  require  entrance  examinations. 

4.  That  novels  should  not  be  put  into  circulation  through  public 
libraries  until  two  years  after  their  publication. 

5.  That  abstinence  from  meat  as  food  is  necessary  to  promote 
health  and  right  living. 

6.  That  the  influence  of  great  poets  is  deeper  and  more  abiding 
than  that  of  successful  generals. 

7.  That  students  who  have  not  obtained  in  their  studies  an  aver- 
age of  eighty  out  of  one  hundred  per  cent  should  be  excluded  from 
high-school  athletic  teams. 

8.  That  in  founding  libraries  Mr.  Carnegie  made  a  better  use  of 
his  money  for  philanthropic  purposes  than  he  would  have  made  had 
he  founded  hospitals. 

9.  That  the  degeneracy  and  decay  of  nations  is  owing  solely  to 


As  has  been  seen,  exposition  continually  comes  to  the 
aid  of  argumentation ;  indeed,  a  debater  needs  to  know 
all  that  rhetoric  can  teach.  He  should  understand  clear- 
ness, that  he  may  successfully  use  definition  and  state- 
ment; rapidity,  that  he  may  give  details  swiftly  and 
make  the  most  of  his  time ;  force  and  life,  that  he  may 
render  the  strong  points  of  his  argument  effective.  A 
knowledge  of  narration  should  enable  him  to  tell  an 
anecdote  to  advantage ;  while  skill  in  description  should 
bring  vividly  before  his  hearers  what  he  himself  sees. 


ARGUMENTATION  259 

But  it  is  not  argumentation  alone  that  utilizes  other  General 

,  .  .  interde- 

processes  of  composition.     Narration,  description,  expo-  pendence 
sition,  argumentation,  each  makes  demands  upon  the 
others ;  while  all  require  an  intimate  knowledge  of  words, 
of  figures  of  speech,  of  the  forms  of  sentences. 

Rhetorical  knowledge  is  of  little  use,  however,  unless  Mere 

rhetorical 

the  man  that  possesses  it  thinks  and  feels,  and  honestly  knowledge 
expresses  what  he  thinks  and  feels. 


Language  !     The  blood  of  the  soul,  Sir  ! 

OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES. 


APPENDIX 

THE   CORRELATION   OF  ENGLISH   AND   LIBRARY 
WORK 

A  CHIEF  aim  of  an  English  course  in  the  secondary 
school  is  to  give  the  pupil  power ;  not  merely  ability  to 
meet  daily  requirements  in  the  classroom,  but  to  deal 
with  problems  involving  the  consultation  of  books. 
Such  power,  it  is  safe  to  say,  can  be  given  only  by 
making  a  student  self-reliant  and  by  introducing  him 
to  original  sources  of  information.  The  Library  is  one 
of  those  sources,  and  it  is  the  purpose  of  this  appen- 
dix to  tell,  in  the  briefest  manner,  how  it  has  helped 
the  study  of  English  in  a  secondary  school.1 

The  course  planned  was  intended  :  — 

1.  To  familiarize  the  student  with  the  Library,  its 
arrangement,  and  the  keys  to  its  intelligent  use. 

2.  To  teach  what  may  be  learned  about  a  book  by 
means  of  external  evidence. 

3.  To  show  the  value  and  use  of  the  most  important 
indexes  and  reference  books. 

4.  To  provide  practice  in  getting  together  material 
on  some  subject. 

1  The  Pratt  Institute  High  School  of  Brooklyn. 
261 


262  APPENDIX 

The  lessons  were  :  — 

1.  A  talk  about  the  Library:  its  collections,  the  ar- 
rangement and  contents  of  the  several  rooms,  the  cata- 
logues, Poole's  and  the  Cumulative  Indexes. 

2.  The  assignment  of  problems  that  would  take  the  stu- 
dent to  the  catalogue.     Representative  problems  are :  — 

Does  the  Library  contain  other  works  by  the  author 
of  "  Evelina  "  ?  Has  it  a  life  of  her  ? 

How  many  works  of  Baron  de  la  Motte  Fouque  has 
the  Library  in  translation  ? 

Find  two  recent  books  on  Roman  literature. 

3.  A  talk  on  the  parts  of    a  book :   what  may  be 
learned  from  the  title-page,  the  copyright  date,  the  pref- 
ace ;  how  to  use  a  table  of  contents  and  an  index.     A 
comparison  was  made  of  two  books  as  well  as  of  differ- 
ent editions  of  a  book. 

4.  The   consideration   of   reference   books,   encyclo- 
paedias, and  biographical  dictionaries.     A  book  was  as- 
signed to  each  student,  who  was  to  look  up  its  author 
in  reference  books,  and  ascertain   what  experience  or 
knowledge  he  had  acquired  that  would  qualify  him  to 
write  on  his  subject.     The  student  reviewed  the  book  in 
a  written  report. 

5.  The  compilation  of  a  reading  list,  in  connection  with 
work  in  American  history.     The  list  formed  the  basis  for 
an  essay  on  a  topic  assigned  by  the  instructor  in  history. 

Results  of  the  teaching  are  indicated  below.  It  has 
seemed  desirable  to  select  papers  that  present  the  work 
most  concisely. 


APPENDIX  263 

REFERENCES  FOUND  TO  GIVE  MATERIAL  FOR  AN  ESSAY  ON 
"  THE  STAMP  ACT  IN  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  " 

Aiken,  1816       .     .     .     .  Annals  of  the  Reign  of  George 

III.     V.  i,  pp.  39-47.  942  —  228 

Bancroft,  1885  ....  History  of  the  United  States. 

V.  3>  PP-  55-58.  973—1 

Bryant  &  Gay,  1882  .  .  History  of  the  United  States. 

V.  3,  pp.  338-350.  973  —  2/3 

Fisher,  1902  ....  True  history  of  the  American 

revolution,  pp.  54-78.  973-3  —  74 
Fiske,  1902 The  American  Revolution. 

V.   I,  pp.   19-32.  R  973.3  —  43 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  Defence  of  Colonies.  V.  36, 

1766 pp.  5-155.  50 — 102 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  Proceedings  in  America  on 

1765 Stamp  Act.  V.  35,  pp.  474.  50 — 102 

Hart,  1898 American  history  told  by  con- 
temporaries. V.  2,  pp.  394- 
412.  973—119 

Lecky,  1883  ....  England  in  the  Eighteenth 

Century.  V.  3,  pp.  346-370.  942  —  85 

Mahon,  1858  ....  History  of  England.  V.  5, 

pp.  85-130.  942 —  128 

Wilson,  1902  ....  History  of  the  American 

people.  V.  2,  pp.  132-156.  973  —  I361 

Book  Review.  —  "The  Silent  South,"  by  G.  W.  Cable.  —  This 
book  is  an  argument  for  civil  equality  between  the  negro  and  the 
white  man.  It  follows  up  the  same  author's  "  Freedman's  Case  in 
Equity,"  with  which  it  is  bound,  and,  although  nearly  twenty  years 
old,  is  invaluable  to  one  who  is  making  a  study  of  the  negro  race 
question.  "The  Freedman's  Case  in  Equity,"  though  still  useful, 
has  not  its  original  worth,  in  that  the  negro's  condition  has  greatly 
improved  since  it  was  written.  "  The  Silent  South  "  is  a  study  of 

1  The  figures  in  this  column  represent  call  numbers  in  the  Pratt  Insti- 
tute Library. 


264  APPENDIX 

causes  rather  than  of  resulting  conditions,  although  there  is  a  clear 
statement  of  those  conditions^ 

The  book  shows  that  the  fallacy  of  considering  civil  equality 
identical  with  social  equality  is  responsible  for  the  chief  arguments 
against  civil  equality  between  the  two  races ;  that  "  race  instinct,"  if 
there  is  such  a  thing,  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  question  of  civil 
rights  ;  that  the  Southerner's  prejudice  against  the  negro  is  nothing 
but  the  feeling  of  superiority  caused  by  the  negro's  two  hundred 
years  of  slavery ;  and  that  the  negro  has  proved  himself  deserving 
of  his  rights.  Mr.  Cable  reveals  also  the  utter  emptiness  of  the  ex- 
cuses given  for  depriving  the  negro  of  his  civil  rights,  while  making 
it  clear  that  the  negro  can  obtain  privileges  only  by  earning  them. 

The  book  acquires  some  value  from  the  fact  that  it  is  written  by 
a  man  who  has  lived  much  of  his  life  in  one  of  the  most  Southern 
of  the  Southern  States,  Louisiana,  and  has  made  a  thorough  and 
practical  study  of  his  subject. 

A  Comparison  of  Books.  —  "Gondola  Days"  and  "Venetian  Life." 
—  "  Gondola  Days  "  is  a  description  of  the  Venice  of  to-day.  The 
author  says  in  his  preface  that  it  is  not  an  attempt  to  review  the 
splendors  of  the  Venice  of  the  past,  and  he  does  not  consider  them 
to  any  great  extent.  The  work  is  in  the  first  person,  as  if  by  a 
traveller  visiting  Venice,  and  gives  a  description,  both  accurate  and 
spirited,  of  the  life  and  manners  of  the  Venetians  as  seen  by  an 
outsider.  Incidents  are  woven  in  from  the  writer's  experience, 
making  the  reading  most  enjoyable.  The  author  takes  one  with 
him.  One  can  see  the  gondola  race  and  hear  the  shouts  of  the 
gondoliers  and  their  friends. 

The  book  as  a  whole  is  a  description  of  the  outside  life  of  the 
Venetians,  and  penetrates  but  little  into  their  homes  and  home  life. 
It  tells  of  the  festivals,  of  the  market-place,  the  gondoliers,  life  in 
the  streets,  night  in  Venice,  and  other  subjects  of  similar  character. 

"  Venetian  Life,"  on  the  other  hand,  while  written  in  the  first 
person,  as  is  *'  Gondola  Days,"  is  more  exact,  and  affords  a  deeper 
insight  into  the  homes  and  lives  of  the  people.  It  describes  house- 
keeping, love-making,  baptisms,  and  the  traits  and  characters  of 
the  Venetians.  It  is  much  more  of  an  historical  book  than 
"  Gondola  Days  " ;  it  contains  a  history  of  Venetian  commerce,  of 


APPENDIX  265 

memorable  places,  of  art,  of  operas  and  theatres,  of  churches  and 
paintings. 

"  Gondola  Days  "  is  an  account  by  a  person  visiting  Venice  for  a 
short  time.  "Venetian  Life"  does  what  its  title  indicates;  that. is, 
it  gives  a  full  description  of  life  in  Venice.  It  goes  down  into  the 
Ghetto  and  pictures  the  Jews.  It  contains  a  description  of  the 
outside  life  of  the  Venetians ;  it  tells  of  their  holidays,  society,  and 
dinners. 

While  F.  Hopkinson  Smith's  "Gondola  Days"  makes  enjoyable 
reading,  W.  D.  Howells's  "Venetian  Life"  is  a  much  better  all- 
round  description  of  Venetian  life. 

The  lessons  on  judging  a  book  by  means  of  external 
evidence  are  so  generally  useful  that  an  outline  of  them 
by  the  Library  Director l  is  inserted  below. 

HOW  TO   GET   INFORMATION   ABOUT  A   BOOK,   AS   AN   AID   IN 
SELECTION 

I.    Facts  to  be  obtained  from  the  catalogue  card  :  — 

(a)  Authorship,  if  known.     This  is  the  first  consideration. 

(b)  Title.     This   often    shows   the   scope   of  the   book ;   e.g.  a 

"  History  of  Europe  in  the  Fifteenth  Century  "  is  useless 
if  one  is  looking  for  the  Thirty  Years1  War. 

(c)  Number  of  volumes.     This  may  warn  the  student  against  tak- 

ing out  an  exhaustive  work  when  a  brief  sketch  is  needed. 

(</)  Number  of  pages.  Also  an  indication  of  the  size  of  the 
work  and  of  its  probable  exhaustiveness. 

0)  Illustrations,  if  any,  indicated  by  z7. ;  portraits  by  par. ; 
tables  by  tab. ;  the  presence  of  maps  also  stated,  if  there 
are  any.  Often  an  illustrated  work  is  preferable  to  one 
without  illustrations.  Of  good  histories  of  the  same 
period,  one  with  the  best  maps  would  be  preferred. 

(/)  Place  of  publication.  Sometimes  to  be  considered.  A  his- 
tory of  the  United  States  published  in  London  would 

1  Miss  Mary  W.  Plummet. 


266  APPENDIX 

perhaps  present  a  point  of  view  different  from  that  of 
one  published  in  New  York.  In  these  days  of  inter- 
national copyright,  however,  the  place  of  publication  is 
less  significant  than  it  was  formerly. 

(£•)  Date  of  publication  and  copyright  date.  This  is  very  sig- 
nificant. In  science,  electricity,  engineering,  etc.,  it  is, 
next  to  the  authorship,  the  most  important  thing  to 
notice  in  selecting  a  book.  The  copyright  date,  which 
indicates  the  actual  age  of  the  book,  is  always  given  on 
the  catalogue  card  if  it  differs  from  the  title-page  date 
by  more  than  a  year. 

(h)  Series  note.  The  fact  that  a  book  belongs  to  a  series  having 
a  high  standard  of  excellence  (e.g.  American  Statesmen), 
is  a  recommendation. 

II.    Information   to   be   obtained   by  examining   the 
book  itself :  — 

(a)  Title-page.  The  title  may  be  fuller  here  than  on  the  cata- 
logue card.  More  information  about  an  author  is  often 
given,  such  as  the  titles  of  his  other  works,  his  official 
position,  etc. 

Publisher.     The  name  of  a  reputable  firm  is  usually  an  in- 
dication that  the  book  has  merit. 

(£)  Dedication.  If  to  a  well-known  man,  and  by  permission,  this 
is  a  slight  clew  to  value. 

(c)  Preface.     The  author  often  sets  forth  his  aim  in  writing, 

tells  his  point  of  view,  states  what  ground  is  covered  by 
his  work,  etc. 

(d)  Table  of  contents.     This  often  shows  at  a  glance  the  scope 

of  the  book,  the  subdivisions  of  the  subject  ;  sometimes 

it  gives  a  re'sume'  of  the  points  made. 
(*?)    Index.     The  fact  that  a  book  has,  or  has  not,  an  index,  will 

often  decide  for  or  against  its  use  in  a  given  case. 
(/)  Bibliographical  references,  foot-notes,  and  appendices.    These 

enable  one  to  determine  on  what  authority  an  author  has 

based  his  statements. 


APPENDIX  267 

Having  decided  from  external  evidence  that  the  book 
is  on  one's  subject ;  not  too  long  or  too  short  for  one's 
purpose ;  that  it  is  illustrated  or  that  it  has  maps,  if  the 
subject  demands  them ;  that  it  is  recent  or  contempo- 
raneous ;  published  by  a  good  firm ;  indexed,  and  based 
on  good  authorities,  —  next,  one  should  look  up  the 
author  himself,  if  that  be  necessary,  to  find :  — 

With  what  institutions  of  learning,  if  any,  he  is  connected  ;  if 
the  author  of  a  book  of  travel,  whether  he  has  visited  the 
country  described  ;  if  of  biography,  what  access  he  had  to 
original  papers,  etc.  ;  if  of  science,  what  his  standing  among 
scientists  is,  whether  he  is  an  investigator,  or  a  compiler, 
etc.  ;  in  short,  one  should  learn  what  his  qualifications  are  for 
dealing  with  his  subject,  and  what  work  he  has  done  before. 

If  comparing  two  books,  decide  which  has  the  most 
important  points  in  its  favor. 

If  a  pupil  merely  realizes  that  books,  not  one  book 
alone,  may  open  for  him  on  almost  any  subject,  he  is 
likely  to  be  saved  from  some  mistakes  and,  what  is 
perhaps  of  more  importance,  from  narrow-mindedness. 
If,  in  addition  to  this  realization,  he  has  acquired  "  the 
art  of  selection,"  he  finds  a  university  wherever  a  good 
library  exists. 


INDEX 


[Arabic  numerals  without  the  parenthesis  refer  to  pages.  Roman  and  Arabic  numer- 
als within  the  parenthesis  refer  to  subdivisions  on  the  page.  Ex.  represents  exercise 
or  exercises,  and  ill.,  illustration  or  illustration*.  Item,  stands  for  remark  and 
designates  material  within  brackets  under  exercises  and  illustrations.] 


Abbreviation,  of  ordinals,  52  ;  punctuation 
of,  41. 

Abstract  (An),  defined,  164,  ex.,  164. 

ADDISON,  JOSEPH,  ''The  Action  of  Para- 
dise Lost,"  230. 

Allegory,  denned,  100,  ex.,  102,  105  (4), 
106,  (IV,  V),  ill.,  101. 

AMES,  FISHER,  "  The  British  Treat}-,"  245. 

Anecdote,  defined,  154,  ill.,  154,  in  argu- 
mentation, 257. 

Anticlimax,  209,  examples  of,  210,  ex., 
210. 

Antithesis,  209,  ex.,  209,  212,  213,  ill, 
209. 

Antonyms,  defined,  85,  in  contrasts,  129, 
ex.,  85,  209,  213(111,  IV). 

Appendix  (English  and  Library  Work). 
Lessons  on  use  of  library,  plan  for,  262, 
objects  of,  261,  results  of,  263,  264,  265. 
How  to  judge  a  book,  from  the  cata- 
logue card,  265,  266 ;  from  an  examina- 
tion of  the  book  itself,  266,  26T.  Im- 
portance of  the  library,  267. 

Argument,  (An),  defined,  234,  examples 
of,  234,  235,  ex.,  235,  236,  why  made, 
234. 

Argumentation,  analogy  in,  242,  ex.,  255 
(III),  defined,  242,  distinguished  from 
argument,  242,  ill.,  242  (I,  II),  when 
argument,  242 ;  concrete  instances  in, 
value  of,  245,  ill.,  245;  defined,  234; 
ex.,  239  (II);  distinguished  from  ex- 
position, 234 ;  example,  value  of,  241  ; 
exposition,  to  define  terms  in,  238,  ex- 
ample, 239  (foot-note) ;  evidence,  ex., 
237,  238,  239  (I),  252,  253,  254,  255,  257, 
(IV,  V),  distinguished  from  assertion, 
236,  the  value  of,  236,  ex.,  236  and  237  ; 


general  statements  in,  244;  illustra- 
tion, kind  to  choose,  241,  example  of, 
241,  value  of,  241  ;  proof,  236,  ex.,  244, 
245,  particular  instances  as,  242,  how 
many  needed,  243,  what  kind  needed, 
243,  ex.,  243  ;  persuasion,  ex.,  249, 250, 
how  to  practise,  249,  value  of,  24S,  ill., 
248,  249  ;  proposition  in,  defined,  238, 
ex.,  239,  form  for,  238,  246,  ex.,  247 
(I.  II),  should  be  debatable,  246; 
specific  instances  in,  caution  about,  234 
(4,  rein.)  ;  usefulness  of  anecdote  in, 
257.  See  also  Debate. 

Arrangements  of  words.  See  Antithesis, 
Climax,  Exclamation,  Irony,  Interro- 
gation. 

A  toast,  response  to,  249  (III). 

Author's  Note,  III. 

BACON,  FRANCIS,  "Of  Revenge,"  231. 

BLACKMORE,  R.  D.,  "  Lorna  Doone,"  96. 

Book  title,  not  plural.  70,  ex.,  73  (X). 

BROWNING,  ELIZABETH  BARRETT,  "The 
Prospect,"  200. 

BROWNING,  ROBERT,  "An  Incident  of  the 
French  Camp,"  189;  "Boot  and  Sad- 
dle" ("Cavalier  Tunes"),  192;  "My 
Last  Duchess,"  201 ;  "Pheidippides," 
135;  "Saul,"  201. 

BRYANT,  WILLIAM  CTLLEN,  "Thanatop- 
sis,"  197;  "To  a  Waterfowl,"  79  (V), 
189. 

BUNYAN,  JOHN,  "  Pilgrim's  Progress," 
9  (III). 

BURKE.  EDMUND,  "Conciliation  with  the 
Colonies,"  158,  211.  234  and  235,  246. 

BfRRorcus,  JOHN,  "An  Idyl  of  the  Iloney- 
Bee,"  25,  134. 


269 


270 


INDEX 


Capitalization,  in  general,  52 ;  of  east, 
north,  south,  west,  53,  ex.,  54  (VI); 
of  titles  of  compositions,  52. 

CARLVLE,  THOMAS,  "Dr.  Francia,"  96; 
"  Essay  on  Burns,"  176,  211,  252,  253  ; 
"The  French  Revolution,"  185. 

Clause,  explanatory  relative,  defined,  72, 
how  punctuated,  72,  ex.,  78  (XII); 
restrictive  relative,  defined,  71,  ex.,  78 
(XII). 

Climax,  209,  ex.,  210,  212. 

Coherence,  defined,  26,  ex.,  73  (IX),  93 
(rem.),  99  (rem.),  136  (remarks),  217 
(8,  rem.),  221  (first  rem.),  224  (first  and 
second  remarks),  225  (rem.),  226 
(rem.) ;  in  the  entire  composition,  157  ; 
in  the  sentence,  27. 

Conjunctions,  as  paragraph  connectives, 
25,  ill.,  25. 

Connection,  of  cantos,  23 ;  of  chapters,  24 
(II). 

Correlatives,  as  —  as,  different — from, 
not  only  —  but  also,  scarcely  —  when, 
seldom  —  or  never,  so — as,  such  —  as, 
though  — yet,  when  —  then,  where  — 
there,  whethci —  or,  etc. ;  use  of,  29. 

Debate,  a  method  of  beginning,  252  (rem.)  ; 
brief  in,  247  and  foot-note,  257 ;  de- 
fined, 245;  duties  of  debater  in,  247; 
ex.  (general),  251,  252;  how  to  judge, 
250,  251 ;  in  the  classroom,  251 ;  per- 
suasion in,  248,  249,  ill.,  248,  249,  ex., 
252  (2) ;  list  of  propositions  for,  258  ; 
refutation  in,  245,  ill.,  245,  ex.,  246, 
when  to  make,  248 ;  responsibility  of 
affirmative  side  in,  247  ;  responsibility 
of  negative  side  in,  247 ;  rhetorical 
knowledge  needed  by  debater,  258 ; 
rhetorical  knowledge  not  enough  in 
itself,  259;  style  in,  250;  the  speech 
in,  250. 

DEFOE,  DANIEL,  "The  Storm,"  56. 

Degree,  comparative,  71 ;  superlative,  71. 

DEQUINCEY,  THOMAS,  "  Joan  of  Arc,"  46 
(III),  149  (I). 

Description  (55-66  and  95-99),  a  method  of 
beginning,  60  ;  arrangement  of  details, 
61,  ex.,  65  (II),  99  (II),  ill.,  61  (I,  II), 
62  (III) ;  character  of,  how  determined, 
66;  characteristic  details,  56,  ex.,  58, 
65  (II),  ill.,  56,  57;  choice  of  details, 
56;  comprehensive  view  first,  60,  ill., 
61  (II),  62  (III);  defined,  55;  ex.  In 


(general),  63,  94;  incidental,  ex.,  64 
(3),  ill.,  62  (IV,  1,  2)  ;  objective,  95, 
ex.,  96,  97,  98,  99,  ill.,  95;  point  of 
view,  59,  ex.,  65  (II),  affects  apparent 
size  of  objects,  60,  ex.,  65(11),  changing, 
ill.,  59  (I) ;  purpose  of,  55,  ex.,  65  (II) ; 
scene  changing  as  time  goes  by,  ill.,  59 
(II)  ;  subjective,  95,  ill.,  96. 

DICKENS,  CHARLES,  "  A  Christmas  Carol," 
19  (II)  ;  "  A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  148 
(II),  218 ;  "  David  Copperfield,"  57,  62 
(III) ;  "  Oliver  Twist,"  280. 

Diction  (74-85),  ex.,  64,  65 (rem.),  82  (III), 
83  (2,  rem.),  93  (rem.),  99  (rem.),  186 
(first  rem.),  154  (ex.  II),  186  (10),  221 
(rem.  first  and  second),  225  (rem.), 
226  (rem.);  "fine  writing,"  76,  ex., 
64  (rem.),  151  (rein.)  ;  foreign  words, 
75 ;  good  use,  74  (see  also  Words) ; 
idioms,  75  (V),  ill.,  75,  76;  poetic 
words,  75 ;  precision,  74 ;  provincial- 
isms, 75 ;  slang,  75  ;  suitable  words, 
76,  ex.,  72,  73  (I-VIII) ;  superfluous 
words,  77 ;  technical  words,  75 ;  two 
ways  of  adding  to  one's  vocabulary, 
75,  85 ;  when  a  word  is  one's  own, 
85;  worn-out  expressions,  76.  See 
also  Kpithets,  Imitative  words,  Spe- 
cific words. 

Division  of  words  into  syllables,  40. 

DRYDEN,  JOHN,  "  An  Essay  on  Dramatic 
Poetry,"  95. 

Editorial  paragraph,  defined,  228  (II 
rem.),  ex.,  228  (II). 

ELIOT,  GEORGE,  "Silas  Marner,"  5  (III), 
6  (III),  7  (first  and  second  III),  13  (IV), 
16(111),  19  (1),  20  (IV),  24  (III),  32  (V, 
VI),  48  (V,  6),  81  (III),  84  (V),  91  (II), 
93,  106  (V),  128  (I),  187  (II),  188,  144, 
148  (III),  158  (III  and  ex.),  164(111,  6, 
rem.),  210  (ill.,  II),  219  (II),  229,  238 
(4  and  5),  240  (II),  241  (I),  242  (II) ; 
"  Romola,"  218. 

EMERSON,  >RALPH  WALDO,  "The  Humble- 
Bee,"  79  (II). 

Entire  Composition,  climax  in,  6,  144  (ex., 
(Ill),  ill.,  6;  coherence  in,  81 ;  conclu- 
sion of,  159,  ill.,  159,  160,  ex.,  160;  in- 
troduction of,  155,  ill.,  155,  156,  ex., 
156, 157 ;  outlines,  160, 161, 162, 168,  ex., 
164,  in  exposition,  227 ;  planning  of, 
155;  proportion  in,  6,  144  (ex.,  V),  ill., 
6,  7  ;  sequence  in,  7,  144  (ex.,  IV),  ill., 


INDEX 


271 


7,  sequence  of  in  exposition,  227  ;  state- 
ment of  purpose  of,  155  ;  subordinate 
material,  how  to  treat,  145 ;  summary 
in,  defined,  157 ;  theme  of,  5,  6,  141 
(ex.),  ill.,  5 ;  transition  paragraph  in, 
defined,  157,  when  needed,  157,  in  ex- 
position, 227  ;  transition  sentence  In, 
defined,  157,  when  needed,  157,  In  ex- 
position, 227;  unity  in,  6,  18,  ex.,  48 
(III),  141. 

Epithet,  82  ;  gives  force,  181  ;  gives  life,  181 ; 
ex.,  82  (I,  II),  83  (IV),  84  (V),  99,  132, 
185  (14),  232  (7,  rem.),  ill.,  82. 

Exclamation,  211,  ex.,  212,  when  properly 
used,  211. 

Exposition,  accuracy  in,  226,  ex.,  226  (II) ; 
analogy  in,  242,  ex.,  242  ;  a  method  of, 

220,  ill.,  220,  221 ;  ex.  in  (general),  219 
(II,  III),  220;   classification  of  exam- 
ples of,  229,  230,  281, 232,  233  ;  compari- 
sons in,  227  ;  contrasts  in,  227 ;  deals 
with  general  terms,  215 ;  definition  in, 

221,  111.,  221,  what  a  definition  should 
be,  222,  what  it  should  make  use  of, 
222;  description  in,  229;  descriptions 
used   for,  218,  ill.,  218,   219;  distin- 
guished   from    pure  description,   214, 
215,  219,  ex.,  215,  216,  217,  218,   219, 
227,   ill.,  214,  215  ;  examples  in,   227 ; 
figures  in,  227  ;  in  answer  to  "  What  ?  " 
and  "How?"  222,  ex.,  223,  224,  225, 
226 ;   narration  in,  229 ;   where  found, 
288  ;  what  the  writing  of  an  exposition 
requires,  226. 

Fable,  defined,  101,  examples  of,  101,  ex., 
104,  105  (3),  106  (III). 

Figures  of  speech  (86-94, 100-106),  cautions 
about,  91  (I),  92  (II) ;  classification  of, 
ex.,  229  (1  rem.)  ;  ex.  on  (general),  86, 
92,  98,  99,  154  (ex.  II) ;  give  life,  132  ; 
natural  to  use,  93 ;  when  useful,  91 
(II),  92  ;  figure  of  speech  defined,  86 ; 
apostrophe,  89,  ex.,  90,  ill.,  89;  hyper- 
bole, 89,  ill.,  90 ;  metaphor,  87,  88,  ex., 
92,  94,  ill.,  88,  90,  serviceable,  98,  in  ex- 
position, 227;  personification,  88,  ex., 
94,  ill.,  90,  91 ;  simile,  87,  88,  ex.,  94, 
185  (14) ;  ill.,  88,  90,  91,  serviceable,  93, 
227.  See  also  Allegory,  Fable,  Para- 
ble. 

GARLAND,  HAMLIN,  "A  Dakota  Prairie," 
57;  "Scenes  from  Western  Life,"  25. 


GILDER,  RICHARD  WATSON,  "The  Son- 
net," 205. 

GOODALE,  ELAINE,  57. 
Good  use.    See  Diction  and  Words. 

HAWTHORNE,  NATHANIEL,  "  Sights  from  a 
Steeple"  in  "Twice-Told  Tales,"  60, 
61  (I). 

Historical  allusions,  value  of,  132. 

HOLMES,  OLIVER  WENDELL,  "The  Auto- 
crat of  the  Breakfast  Table,"  101,  229, 
254,  255 ;"  The  Professor  at  the  Break- 
fast Table,"  80,  85. 

Honesty  in  work,  18. 

HOWELLS,  WILLIAM  DEAN,  "A  Day's 
Pleasure,"  62. 

HUGO,  VICTOR,  "  Les  Miserables,"  46  (I, 
II),  184  (3,  rem.). 

HUNT,  LEIGH,  "  Abou  Ben  Adhem,"  187, 
188;  "On  the  Realities  of  Imagina- 
tion," 233. 

Idioms,  defined,  75  (VI),  ill.,  75.  76. 
Imitative  words,  defined,  79,  give  life,  182  ; 

in  exposition,  226 ;  in  narration,  149  ; 

ex.  (general),  79,  80,  81  (IV),  92,  93,  99 ; 

ill.,  79  (1,  2). 

Interrogation.    See  Rhetorical  Question. 
Introduction,  3. 
Irony,  210,  ex.,  212,  how  interpreted,  210, 

ill.,  210. 
IRVING,  WASHINGTON,  "The  Alhambra," 

8,   (I),   59   ("The  Mysterious  Cham- 

bers  "),  218,  219. 

JACKSON,  HELEN  HUNT,  "Opportunity," 

187. 
JOHNSON,  DR.  SAMUEL,   "Letter   to   the 

Earl  of  Chesterfield,"  138. 

LAMB,  CHARLES,  "  A  Dissertation  on  Roast 
Pig,"  184,  "The  Convalescent,"  21 
(II). 

LANIER,  SIDNEY,  "  A  Song  of  the  Future," 
.129;  "The  Symphony,"  200. 

Letters  (165-170),  indention  of  paragraphs, 
165 ;  omission  of  punctuation  from 
heading  and  superscription,  166,  ill., 
166,  167;  punctuation  of  heading,  ill., 
165,  166,  punctuation  of  superscription, 
ill.,  167 ;  ways  of  writing  a  woman's 
signature,  169  ;  when  to  omit  names  of 
city  and  state  from  headings  of  letters, 
170;  when  to  reply  to  letters,  175; 


272 


INDEX 


business  letter,  exercise  on  writing, 
169,  models  of,  168,  169,  subscriptions 
for,  16S,  date,  how  written,  166,  en- 
closing a  postage-stamp  in,  170,  forms 
of  address,  169,  when  to  reply  to,  175; 
friendly  letter,  what  it  contains,  167, 
ex.,  168,  models  for,  165,  166,  sub- 
scriptions for,  166,  167. 

LONDON,  JACK,  "  The  Call  of  the  Wild,"  62. 

LONGFELLOW,  HENRY  WADSWORTII, 
"Evangeline,"  201 ;  "The  Arrow  and 
the  Song,"  187;  "The  Courtship  of 
Miles  Standish,"  7  (II),  89,  214. 

LOWELL,  JAMES  RUSSELL,  "Aladdin," 
177 ;  "  Beaver  Brook,"  200 ;  "  Essay 
on  Spenser,"  232  ;  "  Leaves  from  My 
Journal  at  Sea,"  80;  "She  came  and 
Went,"  202  ;  "  Summer  Storm,"  59  ; 
"The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  55,  128 
(I),  130,  138,  185,  186  (VI),  202  (ex.), 
204  (ex.),  204  (The  Stanza),  219  (III), 
227,  238  (3),  243  (II),  "  Yussouf,"  183, 
184. 

MACAULAY,  THOMAS  BABINGTON,  "Essay 

on   Milton,"  158,  214,   215,  255,   257~; 

"History    of    England,"     19     (III); 

"  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  237. 
MILTON.  JOHN,  82  (ex.  I) ;  "  Comus,"  89  ; 

"  Paradise  Lost,"  156. 
MORLEY,  JOHN,  "  Edmund  Burke,"  159. 

Narration  (138-154),  climax  in,  144,  ill., 
144;  defined,  138;  ex.  in  (general), 
144,  145,  146,  147,  149,  150,  151,  152, 
153,  154;  forms  of,  154;  incidents  for 
stories,  138,  139,  140,  149,  ex.,  138, 
142,  143  ;  purpose  of  narration,  141  ; 
stories  of  different  sorts,  138,  stories, 
how  told,  147,  148,  149  :  suggestions 
in  stories,  147,  ill.,  .148;  theme  of 
story,  141,  ex.,  142,  143  ;  title  of  story, 
141,  ex.,  142,  143;  when  story  begins, 
148. 

NEWMAN,  CARDINAL,  "Lectures  on  Uni- 
versity Subjects,"  160.  < 

News  item,  direct  in  statement,  47,  ill., 
47(1),  48  (III). 

Notes  (170-175),  formal,  173 ;  date,  how 
written,  174  ;  form  for  reply,  how  indi- 
cated, 175;  dinner  invitation,  model 
for,  173 ;  note  of  acceptance,  175,  of 
regret,  174 ;  punctuation  of  formal 
notes,  174  (rem.)  ;  reception  invitation, 


174 ;  request  for  an  answer,  174 ;  when 
to  reply  to  formal  notes,  175. 
Notes  informal,  forms  for  :  acceptance  of 
an  invitation,  ex.,  173  (HI)  ;  acknowl- 
edgment of  a  gift,  171,  ex.,  173  (I); 
congratulation,  172 ;  declination  of  in- 
vitation, 173  (II);  introduction,  171, 
superscription  for,  172,  ex.,  178  (V) ; 
resignation  from  a  club,  170,  ex.,  170 ; 
sympathy,  173  ;  visiting-card  introduc- 
tion, 172  (foot-note)  ;  visiting-card  in- 
vitation, 174.  When  to  reply  to  an 
informal  note,  175. 

Parable,  defined,  102,  examples  of,  102, 
how  true,  102. 

Paragraphs,  climax  in,  10  (III),  12  (V), 
ex.  10  (III),  11  (4),  12  (V),  13(111), 
123  (rem.);  connection  of,  21,  ex.,  24 
(III,  IV),  26,  48  (III),  136  (first  rem.), 
153  (rem.),  by  means  of  conjunc- 
.  tions,  ill.,  25  ;  contrast  of,  25,  ill.,  25 ; 
development  of,  by  enumeration  of 
causes  of  an  effect,  58  (rem.),  by 
enumeration  of  details,  61,  62,  65,  13 
(I),  by  enumeration  of  particulars, 
61,  81,  by  enumeration  of  reasons, 
81,  97  (rem.),  by  means  of  compari- 
sons, 221  (rem.),  by  means  of  con- 
trasts, 13  (I),  221  (rem.),  by  means  of 
examples,  227,  230 ;  by  means  of  ex- 
planations, 13  (I,  IV),  by  means  of 
inquiry  and  answer,  98  (rem.),  by 
means  of  specific  instances.  18,  defined, 
12,  general  ex.  13  (III,  IV),  23  (rem.), 
26,  48,  81  (V,  rem.),  97  (rem.),  98;  in 
argumentation,  239  (rem.),  240  (3.  b., 
rem.),  244  (ex.),  in  description,  61 
(rem.),  in  exposition  by  examples,  227, 
230  (3,  rem.),  221  (first  rem.),  in  narra- 
tion, 149,  in  refutation,  246  (rem.), 
some  methods  of,  12,  with  reference 
to  space,  ex.  13  (I  rem.),  149;  with 
reference  to  time,  13  (I  rem.),  61,  149 ; 
emphasis  in,  12,  ex.,  13  (I),  48  (V); 
indentation  of,  9  ;  sequence  in,  ex.,  13 
(I,  II),  20  (II),  24  (II),  26,  31,  48  (III), 
84  (VI),  136  (first  rem.),  ill.,  21,  22.  23  ; 
summary,  157,  ex.,  158,  ill.,  158  (I,  II, 
III)  ;  topic  of,  8,  ex.,  10  (II),  12  (IV), 
13  (I,  II),  18  (I);  topics  of,  where 
stated,  8,  ill.,  8,  9;  topics  of,  how 
inferred,  8,  ill.,  9  ;  transition,  157,  ill., 
158  (I,  II,  III),  ex.,  158;  unity  in, 


INDEX 


273 


8,  141  (ex.),  ex.,  10,  11,  13  (III),  16 

(II,  1),  18,  48  (III),  83  (IV),   136  (2, 

rein.). 
PARKMAN,    FRANCIS,    "  Passage     of    the 

Mountain,"  9  (IV). 
Phrases,   introductory   participial,  69,   70 ; 

participial,    69 ;     restrictive    (AT   ALL 

EVENTS,    AT     LEAST,    AT    ANY     RATE,  IN 
TRUTH,  TO  BE  SURE,  ETC.),  place  for,  28. 

Plural,  ex.,  53(11);  of  collective  nouns,  70; 
of  compound  words,  51,  ex.,  53  (IV), 
ill.,  52. 

POK,  EDGAR  ALLAN,  "The  Gold  Bug,"  21. 

Poems,  study  of  (176-190),  176-190 ;  exer- 
cises :  "Abou  Ben  Adhein,"  187; 
"Aladdin,"  177,  178;  "My  Bees," 
178;  "  Opportunity  "  (H.  H'S),  186, 187 ; 
"The  Arrow  and  the  Song,"  187; 
"Opportunity"  (Sill's),  181,  182; 
"The  Arrow  and  the  Song,"  187; 
"  The  Story  of  Ung,"  179,  180,  181  ; 
"  The  Vision  of  Sir  Launfal,"  185,  186  ; 
"  Yussouf,"  183,  Ih4,  185.  Poems, 
form  of,  how  determined,  208 ;  list  of, 
fur  memorizing,  188,  ex.,  189 ;  why 
written,  176. 

Poetry,  defined,  190  ;  didactic,  197,  example 
of,  197 ;  dramatic,  196,  comedy,  196, 
example  of,  197,  farce,  196,  example  of, 
197,  tragedy,  196,  example  of,  197. 
How  poetry  helps  the  study  of  his- 
tory, 191;  how  to  know  poetry,  190; 
kinds  of  poetry,  191  :  ballad,  195,  ex., 
195  (I,  II);  elegy,  195,  example  of, 
196;  epic,  194,  example  of,  195;  lyric, 
191,  ex.,  192;  narrative,  194;  ode,  191, 
examples  of,  192 ;  pastoral,  example 
of,  195;  romance,  194,  example  of, 
195;  satire,  197,  example  of,  197; 
sonnet,  205,  ill.,  205,  206,  207,  binding 
parts  of  together,  206  (rein.),  ex.,  207, 
list  for  memorizing,  207,  rhyming  ar- 
rangements  in,  205,  206,  207  ;  tale,  ex- 
ample of,  195;  threnody,  195,  examples 
of,  196 ;  what  poetry  does  for  the 
reader,  191. 

Possessive  form,  51,  ex.,  54  (V),  ill.,  51, 
55  (foot-note),  104  (rein.). 

Possessive  singular,  ex.,  53  (III). 

Punctuation,  at  end  of  sentence  both  inter- 
rogative and  exclamatory,  34 ;  does  not 
overcome  faults  in  construction,  33,  ill., 
33  ;  for  emphasis,  40,  ill.,  40 ;  of  broken 
quotation,  ill.,  50  ;  at  end  of  quotation 


with  quotation  within  it,  ill.,  51  ;  of 
quotation  within  quotation,  ill.,  50; 
marks  :  apostrophe,  use  of,  40,  51,  ex., 
41  (I,  5),  42  (16, 17),  ill.,  41 ;  colon,  char- 
acter of,  86,  use  of,  36,  87,  ex.,  38,  42 
(9,  15,  17,  II,  III),  122  (rein.),  ill.,  36 
(I,  II,  III),  37;  comma,  ex.,  41,  42, 
ill.,  39,  40,  omission  from  apparent 
series,  49,  ex.,  53  (I),  use  of,  39  ;  with 
dash  or  parenthesis,  49,  ex.,  53  (II,  3, 
4)  ill.,  50;  dash,  36,  ex.,  41,  42,  ill.,  36, 
after  colon,  36,  in  place  of  mark  of 
parenthesis,  36,  with  comma,  ill.,  50, 
without  comma,  ill.,  49;  direct  quota- 
tion changed  to  indirect,  ex.,  35  (II); 
exclamation  point,  within  sentence, 

34,  ill.,  34  ;  hyphen,  use  of,  40,  52,  ex., 
41,42;  indirect  quotation  changed  to 
direct,  ex.,  85  (I);  interrogation  point 
within   sentence,  34,   ill.,  34;   period, 
ex.,  41,  42  ;  at  end  of  abbreviation,  41  ; 
quotation  marks,  ex.,  41,  42,  51,  with 
a  reference   to  name   of  character  in 
play,  35,  with  direct  quotation,  ill.,  34, 

35,  with  interrupted  direct  quotation, 
50,  with  quotation  within  quotation,  fiO, 
with  quoted  continuous  conversation, 
50,  with  quoted  successive  paragraphs 
or  stanzas,  85,  65  (rein.),  with  references 
to  titles  of   books,   essays,   etc.,  35 ; 
semicolon,  use  of,  37,  38,  ex.,  89,  41, 

42,  122  (rem.),  ill.,  38,  purpose  of,  33. 

Repetition,  harmful,  10  (1,  remarks),  11  (3, 

remarks) ;  needful,  of  the  article,  30  ; 

useful,  21  (I,  rem.). 
Rhetoric,  definition  of,  3;  value  of,  3,  14, 

258. 
Rhetorical  Questions,  211,  ex.,  212,  213  (II), 

ill.,  211,  to  assert,  211,  when  to,  211. 
UUSKIN,   JOHN,   "Modern    Painters,"  81; 

"Of   Kings'    Treasuries,"    155,    159; 

"  Work,"  221. 

SCOTT,  SIR  WALTER,  "  Ivanhoe,"  30  (I); 
"Kenilworth."  61;  "  Marmion."  23 
(I);  "Quentin  Durward,"  8  (II),  24 
(II)  ;  "The  Talisman,"  132. 

Sentence  :  arrangement  and  form  of  parts 
of  like  import,  30,  ill.,  30,  81 ;  balanced, 
denned,  44,  ex.,  45  (II,  III),  209,  ill., 

43,  44,  when  used,  44,  two  parts  of,  44  ; 
coherence  in,   ex.,  27,   31 ;    direct   in 
statement,  46,  47,  ex.,  47  (I),  4S  (III), 


274 


INDEX 


ill.,  46  (I) ;  grammatical  subject  of,  14, 
ex.,  15  (I),  111.,  14 ;  limitation  of,  17, 18 ; 
loose,  defined,  44,  when  used,  44,  ex., 
45  (II,  III),  111.,  44  (III);  periodic, 
defined,  44,  when  used,  44,  ex.,  45  (II, 
III),  ill.,  44  (II),  rhetorical  subject  of, 
14,  ex.,  15  (I),  16  (second  III),  17,  45, 
(I),  ill.,  14;  sequence,  19,  ex.,  20  (I, 
III,  IV),  ill.,  19;  summary,  12,  157; 
topic,  12,  97  (rem.),  transition,  157 ; 
unity  in,  14,  141  (ex.),  ex.,  15  (II),  16 
(III,  and  II,  2),  18,  48  (III),  83  (IV); 
what  to  supply  in,  10  (rem.),  71,  with 
introductory  expressions,  46,  47,  ex., 
47  (II),  ill.,  46(11,  III). 

SHAKESPEARE,  WILLIAM,  "A  Sea  Dirge" 
("The  Tempest"),  192,  193,  "Julius 
C»sar,"  89,  237  and  238  ;  "  The  Mer- 
chant of  Venice,"  220  (IV);  "The 
Tempest,"  200. 

SHELLEY,  PERCY  BYSSHE,  "The  Cloud," 
208 ;  "  The  Sensitive  Plant,"  201. 

SILL,  EDWARD  KOWLAND,  "  Opportunity," 
188  ;  "  The  Reformer,"  188. 

Singular  number,  not  affected  by  plural 
noun  in  modifier,  70. 

Specific  words,  78,  130,  131,  example  of 
use  of,  181,  ex.,  131,  183  (2) ;  forceful, 
130;  ex.,  78,  79,  81  (III,  V),  83  (IV), 
85,  92,  93,  99. 

STEVENSON,  ROBERT  Louis,  "  A  Night 
among  the  Pines,"  22  (III). 

Story,  the  telling  of  a,  etc.    See  Narration. 

Style  (115-187),  ex.,  154  (ex.,  II)  ;  clear- 
ness, relative  importance  of,  115, 
defined,  115,  ex.,  11  (2,  rem.),  116, 
117,  118,  119,  120,  137  (V),  how  to 
gain,  116,  117,  118,  120,  in  outlines,  163 
(IV  rem.),  in  the  entire  composition, 
157;  other  qualities  of  style,  115: 
emphasis,  examples  123,  124,  ex.,  125, 
explained,  123,  how  acquired,  123,  124 ; 
force,  defined,  129,  ex.,  129,  130,  131, 
132,  how  gained,  129,  130,  131 ;  life, 
defined,  132,  ex.,  135,  136,  137,  some 
ways  of  gaining,  132,  133,  ill.,  132,  133, 
134, 135 ;  rapidity,  examples  of,  120, 121, 
122,  ex.,  122, 123,  explained,120,  how  to 
gain,  120,  121,  122;  smoothness,  ex., 
128,  224  (first  rem.),  how  to  avoid  a 
violation  of,  126,  127,  ex.,  126,  127,  ill. 
of  violations  of,  126,  127,  how  to  detect 
a  violation  of,  126,  sounds  especially 
smooth  IT  pleasing,  128. 


Subjects  for  compositions :  11, 12  (for  topic 
and  unity)  ;  16  (first  III,  for  sentences 
and  I  for  paragraphs) ;  18  (I),  20  (II)  (for 
paragraphs) ;  26  (for  paragraphs) ;  81, 
82  (for  paragraphs) ;  45  (for  sen- 
tences) ;  48  (for  paragraphs  and  sen- 
tences) ;  65  (for  description)  ;  81  (IV) 
(for  sentences) ;  81  (V)  (for  para- 
graphs) ;  83  (for  paragraphs  and 
diction) ;  84  (for  paragraphs) ;  94  (for 
description,  figures,  synonyms) ;  99 
(for  description,  subjective  and  objec- 
tive) ;  106  (1 1 1)  (for  fables) ;  106  ( I V)  (for 
allegory);  116  (II)  (for  paragraphs); 
128  (for  rapidity);  125  (III,  IV) 
(for  emphasis)  ;  129  (for  smoothness) ; 
181,  132  (for  force  and  specific  words)  ; 
137  (for  life) ;  140,  141  (for  narration)  ; 
157  (for  introductions  for  composi- 
tions) ;  160  (for  introductions  and  con- 
clusions of  compositions)  ;  164  (for 
outlines)  ;  200  (for  lines  of  verse) ;  207 
(for  sonnet  themes) ;  210  (for  climax, 
anti-climax)  ;  219  (for  description  and 
exposition) ;  226  (for  exposition  —  a 
process) ;  228  (for  description  and 
exposition) ;  240  (for  argumentation). 
Definite  subjects  desirable,  66,  ex.,  66, 
187  (III). 

Synonyms,  defined,  84 ;  ex.,  84,  85,  97 
(rem.),  98  (rem.),  126. 

TENNYSON,  ALFRED,  "  Enoch  Arden,"  232 ; 
"  The  Lady  of  Shalott,"  128, 201 ;"  The 
Princess,"  242. 

Tense,  future :  in  dependent  clauses  not  dis- 
course, 110,  examples,  110 ;  in  giving 
directions,  110,  111 ;  in  indirect  dis- 
course, 109,  ex.,  110,  ill.,  109 ;  in  ques- 
tions, 108  and  foot-note,  ex.,  109 ;  of 
volition,  examples  of,  107  (IV),  108  (V, 
VI),  ex.,  108,  form  of,  107,  when  used, 
107,  simple,  examples  of,  107  (I,  II,  III), 
ex.,  108,  form  of,  107,  when  used,  107. 
Historic  present  tense,  112,  113,  133, 
ex.,  158  (rem.),  how  long  continued, 
113,  in  narration,  149,  used  when,  112. 
Tenses,  sequence  of,  113,  ex.,  114. 
Should  and  would  as  past  tenses  of 
shall  and  will,  111,  examples  of  use  of, 
111,  ex.,  Ill,  112. 

THACKERAY,  WILLIAM  MAKEPEACE,  "The 
History  of  Henry  Esmond,  Esq.,"  20. 

THOMAS,  EDITH  M.,  "The  Cat-Bird,"  57. 


INDEX 


275 


TYNDALL,  JOHN,  "  Passage  to  the  Montan- 
vert,"  95,  96. 

Versification,  accents  in,  199  (rem.)  ;  alliter- 
ation in,  203,  example  of,  203,  ex.,  204, 
by  means  of  internal  consonants,  exam- 
ple of,  203  ;  blank  verse,  204,  ex.,  205; 
csesura,  defined,  199,  how  marked,  199  ; 
feet,  kinds  of,  198,  ex.,  199 ;  forms  of 
verse,  198,  ex.,  200  (II,  III,  IV,  V), 

202,  give  pleasure,  197  ;  lines  of  verse, 
how     measured     (metre),    197,    how 
named,   198,  ill.,   198,   length  of,   198, 
mixed,   198,   ex.,  198,  pure,  198,  ex., 
198 ;  poems  without  regular  metre,  how 
to  read,  201,  ill.,  201,  202 ;  rhyme,  202, 
ex.,  202,  internal  or  leonine,  203,  ill., 

203,  trisyllabic,  example  of,  202  ;  scan- 
sion, 200,  ex.,  200.  201,  202,  204  (II); 
stanza,  204,  kinds  of,  204. 

VIRGIL,  "  The  JEneid,"  156. 


WALLACE,  LEW,  "Ben-Hur,"  134. 

WEBSTER,  DANIEL,  "The  Constitution  of 
the  Union,"  248. 

WHITHER,  JOHN  GREENLEAF,  "  Snow- 
Bound,"  230. 

WORDS,  misuse  and  proper  use  of  some. 
Misuse  of:  adverb,  68;  and,  68; 
quite,  69;  that,  69.  Needful  repeti- 
tion of  article,  30.  Some  words  to  be 
carefully  distinguished,  ex.,  77.  Use 
of:  and,  but,  28;  can,  68;  correla- 
tives, 28,  29  ;  farther,  further,  hence, 
here,  hither,  in,  into,  67 ;  he,  one 
(and  the  one),  you,  as  reference  words, 
65,  68 ;  however,  28 ;  lay,  lie,  68 ;  like, 
67;  may,  68;  O,  oh,  67;  only,  28; 
raise,  rise,  set,  sit,  68 ;  there,  thither, 
67 ;  to,  as  infinitive  sign,  30 ;  where, 
whither,  67.  See  Diction  also. 

WORDSWORTH,  WILLIAM,  "Milton,"  207; 
"The  Solitary  Reaper, "  193,  194. 


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